VN October 2023

Vetnuus | October 2023 20 Using a combination of butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine for standing sedation in African elephants African elephants are held in captivity across the world, in zoos and sanctuaries or similar facilities. These animals regularly require veterinary interventions such as wound care, reproductive assessment, assisted reproduction or contraception, foot care, tusk trimming or biological sample collection. When animal training to enable safe handling of the animal is not possible or adequate handling facilities are lacking, chemical restraint may be required in order to access and handle these animals more safely. In the wild, elephants are usually completely immobilized with a potent opioid, which results in recumbency. In captive elephants, however, many procedures can be performed without the need for lateral recumbency. Standing sedation in captive animals also presents a lower risk to the animal because it allows for access to both sides of the animal, eliminates the potential risks involved with inappropriate recumbent positioning and, in general, results in less stress in group-housed animals because the remaining animals in the herd are not witness to an unnaturally recumbent counterpart – this in itself can cause a huge amount of stress in group-housed animals. When an animal remains standing whilst sedated, the remainder of the group may not even be aware that it has been sedated. The pre-mixed combination of butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine (also referred to as BAM), has been investigated by Wildlife Pharmaceuticals (Pty) Ltd. for a number of years and has proven to be very effective in inducing standing sedation in captive elephants. The combination contains 30 mg butorphanol, 12 mg azaperone and 12 mg medetomidine per ml and was originally investigated in the United States as an alternative to potent opioids for complete immobilization of wild ungulate species. It has since become increasingly popular in the US and has been successfully used in species such as bighorn sheep, black bears, beavers, caribou, elk and white-tailed deer. Locally, BAM has been extensively tested for the complete immobilization of a wide variety of southern African species including blesbok, lions, cheetah, giraffe and even baboons. It has been found to be particularly successful for the reversible immobilization of predator species. In elephants, however, it has proven very effective as a sedative and not only provides good tranquilization but also good analgesia during standing sedation. In a research project that formed part of the PhD of Dr Aleksandr Semjonov, Head of Clinical Veterinary Medicine at the Estonia University of Life Science, Wildlife Pharmaceuticals formally investigated the pre-mixed BAM combination for the standing sedation of trained elephants at Camp Jabulani in Kapama. As part of this research project, 14 elephants (8 cows and 6 bulls) were successfully darted individually by Dr Peter Rogers whilst standing in a family group with their handlers. The animals ranged in age from 6 to 35 years with shoulder heights ranging from 180 to 320 cm. The research team found the combination provided a very stable standing sedation at a dose 0.7-0.8 ml/tonne BAM and animals showed signs of sedation within less than 10 minutes after darting. These signs included slowing of ear and tail movement (as sedation deepened, movement ceased), relaxation and ‘‘dropping’’ of the ears forward, sonorous breathing, protrusion of the penis from the prepuce, relaxation of the trunk and its resting on the ground, widening of the stance, and ataxia. Within 25 minutes, the darted animal could safely be walked away from the herd without disturbing or stressing the rest of the animals. It could then be continuously monitored for a period of 30-40 minutes. By: Dr Liesel Laubscher