Immobilization of Rocky Mountain elk with Telazol and xylazine hydrochloride, and antagonism by yohimbine hydrochloride.

Ten trapped Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) were successfully immobilized with a combination of 500 mg Telazol and 60 mg xylazine hydrochloride (HCl) from 9 July to 25 August 1993 in Custer State Park, South Dakota (USA). Mean (SD) dosages of 2.5 (0.6) mg/kg Telazol and 0.3 (0.1) mg/kg xylazine HCl, respectively, were administered, resulting in a mean (SD) induction time of 4.6 (0.8) min. Induction time varied with weight and dosage. Respiratory rate (breaths/min) increased following injection of Telazol and xylazine HCl and remained elevated or continued to increase through 10 min post-injection and then declined. There were no mortalities in this study. Forty mg of yohimbine HCl was used as an antagonist in eight elk, resulting in a mean (SD) recovery time of 14.0 (9.9) min when administered intravenously (n = 6), and 124.7 (9.5) min when given intramuscularly (n = 2). Recovery time varied with weight and dosage of yohimbine. Elk given 2.1 to 2.6 mg/kg Telazol and 0.1 to 0.3 mg/kg xylazine HCl responded to yohimbine HCl when administered intravenously.

Glycosylated hemoglobin as a stable alternative to serum glucose in white-tailed deer.

We compared serum glucose concentration and percent glycosylated hemoglobin (GH) in captive and wild white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to determine stability of glucose relative to GH. Temporal changes in levels of serum glucose and GH were ascertained from serial blood samples collected from three captive deer over a 2-week period. State of glycemia also was determined for 17 wild deer that were collected from three populations in southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Arkansas (USA). Concentration of serum glucose of captive deer decreased (P = 0.04) from 190.4 to 155.8 mg/dl over the 2 weeks; percent GH did not differ temporally (P = 0.30). Percent GH of wild deer did not differ (P = 0.23) when deer were separated into 2 groups (high and low state of glycemia) based on the median serum glucose concentration. We found a significant difference (P = 0.04) in percent GH among wild deer populations; serum glucose concentration did not differ (P = 0.72) among populations. Our results indicate that percent GH is more stable than serum glucose concentration and may be useful in population comparisons of nutritional condition.

Digiscan activity: automated measurement of thigmotactic and stereotypic behavior in rats.

Visual measures of stereotypy, margin time (thigmotaxis or wall-hugging), and center time were correlated with automated measures using a revised 16 beam version of the Digiscan Animal Activity Monitor System. Rats were injected with d-amphetamine (1.25, 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 mg/kg), scopolamine (1.25 and 2.5 mg/kg) or saline and drugs were found to increase center time and decrease margin time in a dose-dependent manner, with the maximum effect occurring with 1.25 and 2.5 mg/kg, respectively. At higher doses, an opposite effect was observed. Extremely high correlations between visual and automated recordings of both margin time and center time were found. Since thigmotaxic or wall-hugging behavior has been used as an indicator of emotionality in rats, the results of the present study suggest that these two locomotor variables may be useful additions to the Digiscan multivariate analysis of locomotor behavior. It was also found that a redefinition of stereotypic behavior improved its correlation with visual measurements compared to earlier studies.