title: Standing sedation with medetomidine and butorphanol in captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana).
abstract: Doses for standing sedation allowing for various procedures in otherwise inaccessible, untrained captive African elephant bulls are presented. Thirty-three standing sedations were performed in 12 males aged 8-30 years (one to four sedations per animal). Each bull received a combination of 0.009 ± 0.002 mg/kg medetomidine and 0.03 ± 0.007 mg/kg butorphanol. Full sedation was reached on average 25.5 min after injection. The addition of hyaluronidase (1000-2000 IU) significantly reduced time to full sedation to 16.5 min (paired t test, P = 0.024). Reversal was induced with intramuscular atipamezole 0.008 (±0.002) and naltrexone 0.035 (±0.015) mg/kg. Recovery took on average 7 min (3-18 min). The medetomidine/butorphanol combination provided safe standing sedation for smaller procedures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa; National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, 323 Boom Street, Pretoria 0110, South Africa.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lüders
authors.affiliation: Robberg Veterinary Clinic, 56 Longships, Plettenberg Bay 6600, South Africa.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tindall
authors.affiliation: African Elephant Research Unit, Plettenberg Bay, South Africa.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa; National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, 323 Boom Street, Pretoria 0110, South Africa.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van der Horst
authors.affiliation: African Lion Safari, 1386 Cooper Road, Cambridge, ON N1R 5S, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Botha
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa; National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, 323 Boom Street, Pretoria 0110, South Africa.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Luther
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa; National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, 323 Boom Street, Pretoria 0110, South Africa.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maree
authors.affiliation: Section of Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa. Electronic address: henkbert@tiscali.co.za.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bertschinger
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002077:Butorphanol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016292:Procedural Sedation / Q000662:veterinary*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004606:Elephants; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D020926:Medetomidine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011187:Posture
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D020926:Medetomidine; D002077:Butorphanol
keywords: Butorphanol; Elephant bull; Hyaluronidase; Medetomidine