Short- and long-term physiological effects of capture and handling on free-ranging brown bears (Ursus arctos)

• Main Author: Esteruelas, Nuria Fandos
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Høgskolen i Innlandet 2017
• Subjects: anaesthesia; body condition; brown bear; capture and handling; dexmedetomidine; leukocyte coping capacity; Ursus arctos; medetomidine; stress; tiletamine- zolazepam; VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480; Canada
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2469224

PHD in Applied ecology, Evenstad 2017 Brown bears (Ursus arctos) are captured and handled for conservation, research or management purposes. However, capture and handling have potential to cause injury and stress, thus, negatively impacting an animal’s health. The evaluation of behavioural and physiological effects of capture and handling can provide science-based information to better understand the impact of capture and handling on wildlife health, refine techniques and minimize adverse effects. The main goal of my thesis was to assess the short- and long-term physiological effects of capture and handling on free-ranging brown bears in association with two long-term research projects, one in Scandinavia, and the other in Alberta, Canada. For this, I conducted three studies to: i) evaluate the acute stress response to capture and handling by using a field-based technique called the leukocyte coping capacity (LCC), ii) compare two different anaesthetic protocols based on the behavioural and physiological short-term responses of captured bears and iii) assess the long-term effects of capture, handling and surgery on the body condition of independent male bears. In my first study, I found that LCC values measured in blood samples collected at 30 minutes following capture were significantly lower in solitary bears (n = 12) than in bears living in family groups (n = 12) which could suggest that mothers and their dependent offspring had greater capacity to cope with captureinduced stress. In addition, LCC values for blood samples collected at approximately 90 minutes following capture were directly correlated with an index used to estimate body condition which suggests the better a bear’s body condition, the better its capacity to cope with stress. I also found that the LCC values at 90 minutes following capture did not appear to differ between 19 bears that had abdominal surgery to implant or remove radio transmitters, physiological sensors and/or temperature loggers, and five bears that did no undergo surgery. ...