title: Mass capture and anesthesia of Australian bridled nailtail wallabies (Onychogalea fraenata) with the use of medetomidine and ketamine.
abstract: We anesthetized 301 bridled nailtail wallabies (Onychogalea fraenata), captured within Scotia Sanctuary, New South Wales, Australia over four nights in October 2009 to perform health assessments before their release into a predator-proof exclosure. We tested two anesthetic dose-rate combinations, protocol 1 (0.08 mg/kg medetomidine-4.5 mg/kg ketamine), and protocol 2 (0.1 mg/kg medetomidine-5 mg/kg ketamine), each given intramuscularly. Median time from injection to recumbency for protocol 1 was 10 min (1-27 min) and for protocol 2 was 12 min (2-28) (P=0.12). Five animals died during the induction with protocol 2; none died with protocol 1 (P=0.06). Physiologic parameters were recorded during recumbency, with no significant abnormalities with protocol 1. Protocol 1 was an effective, efficient regime to anesthetize large numbers of bridled nailtail wallabies under field conditions.
authors.affiliation: 1  School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA 5371, Australia.
authors.forename: Wayne S J
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Boardman
authors.forename: Charles G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Caraguel
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: Kerryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herman
authors.forename: Margaret-Mary
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: McEwen
authors.forename: Leila C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Haghighi
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D019162:Anesthetics, Combined / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D000778:Anesthetics, Dissociative / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D005260:Female; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007649:Ketamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007614:Macropodidae; D008297:Male; D020926:Medetomidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009517:New South Wales
chemical_list: D019162:Anesthetics, Combined; D000778:Anesthetics, Dissociative; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D007649:Ketamine; D020926:Medetomidine
keywords: Anesthesia; Onychogalea fraenata; bridled nailtail wallaby; induction; ketamine; medetomidine