Long-Duration Anesthesia in Arabian Oryx (Oryx leucoryx) Using a Medetomidine: Etorphine Combination

• Published in: Journal of zoo and wildlife medicine 1996-06, Vol.27 (2), p.209-216
• Main Authors: Ancrenaz, Marc, Ostrowski, Stéphane, Anagariyah, Saud, Delhomme, Alain
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anesthesia; Animals; Body temperature; Erythrocytes; Heart rate; Hematocrit; Narcosis; Respiratory rate; Wildlife; Zoos
• ISSN: 1042-7260; 1937-2825

To investigate the potential use of long-duration anesthesia for airlifted translocations of Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx), six animals were anesthetized for a mean of 259 min (SD = 76.9 min), using a combination of etorphine and medetomidine given i.m. at mean dosages of 68 μg/kg (SD = 29 μg/kg) and 5.00 μg/kg (SD = 0.27 μg/kg), respectively. Clinical variables (rectal temperature, heart and respiratory rates) and behavioral responses (reactions to a pain solicitation, movements of animals) were recorded every 15 min to assess the state of anesthesia. Body temperature decreased slightly at the beginning of anesthesia and remained constant in all but one animal with hypothermia and another with hyperthermia. Respiratory rate increased from a mean value of 20 breaths/min (SD = 5 breaths/min) 30 min following darting (T = 30 min) to a mean value of 40 breaths/min (SD = 15 breaths/min) at T = 90 min. Respiratory rate decreased to a mean value of 20 breaths/min (SD = 15 breaths/min) at T = 120 min and then remained constant in all but one male, which displayed persistant polypnea. Heart rate remained roughly constant. All the clinical variables remained in normal physiological ranges. Hematologic analysis showed a significant (P &lt 0.001) decrease of hematocrit and red blood cells counts from 41.00% (SD = 3.00%) and 7.86 × 10⁶ cells/ml (SD = 0.93 × 10⁶ cells/ml) at T = 30 min to 34.30% (SD = 2.70%) and 4.70 × 10⁶ cells/ml (SD = 0.90 × 10⁶ cells/ml) at T = 140 min, respectively. No major problems occurred during the anesthesia, but the difficulty of performing close monitoring of clinical parameters after 3 hr anesthesia could jeopardize the safety of anesthesia for longer than 5 hr.