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Chemical Immobilization Of Helicopter-Captured Elk (Cervus Canadensis) And Survival Of Elk Calves In Southeastern Kentucky, Kathleen E. Williams
Chemical Immobilization Of Helicopter-Captured Elk (Cervus Canadensis) And Survival Of Elk Calves In Southeastern Kentucky, Kathleen E. Williams
Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources
Safe and effective chemical immobilization is critical to minimize stress and risk of injury when capturing free-ranging, wild ungulates. Many traditionally favored high potency opioids have been phased out or become unavailable because of increased regulations, leading to the development of two pre-mixed combination drugs, butorphanol-azaperone-medetomidine (BAM) and nalbuphine-medetomidine-azaperone (NalMed-A). Both drugs have been used to chemically immobilize ungulates, but their efficacy has not been documented in elk captured and transported via helicopter. During 2020 – 2022, we chemically immobilized helicopter-captured female elk (Cervus canadensis) with a single IM-injection of BAM (n = 41) or NalMed-A (n = …