Intramuscular and intravenous immobililzation of juvenile southern elephant seals

• Published in: The Journal of Wildlife Management
• Main Authors: Slip, DJ, Woods, Rupert
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wildlife Soc 1996
• Subjects: Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences; Veterinary Sciences; Veterinary Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care; Elephant Seals; Mirounga leonina; Southern Elephant Seals
• Online Access: http://joomla.wildlife.org/; https://doi.org/10.2307/3802380; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/70087

We compared intravenousa nd intramusculara dministrationso f ketamine and diazepam to immobilizejuvenile (8 to 24-month-old) southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), to determine the mostappropriate method for immobilizing seals to a level required for stomach flushing or attaching electronicactivity recorders. With intravenous injections, time to induction was shorter (P < 0.001) and less variable(P < 0.001), the duration of immobilization was shorter (P < 0.001) and less variable (P < 0.003), and doseof ketamine was lower (P < 0.001) and less variable (P < 0.001). Eight of 32 seals (25%) injected intravenouslyhad apneas ranging from 8 to 20 minutes (mean = 16 ? 4.5 min), and 6 of 27 seals (22%) injectedintramuscularly were apneic for more than 5 minutes. Seals that became apneic after intravenous injectionbegan breathing before the theoretical aerobic dive limit was reached.