DANiNJECT equipment has played an important role in The Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project, in which Professor Jon M. Arnemo has been involved since the 1990s.

The bear project researches themes such as basic bear biology, physiology, and population monitoring, as well as human medicine.

"We immobilize and capture about 60 bears a year, which are fitted with radio transmitters and biologgers, and from which we take a number of different samples for our biobank," says Jon M. Arnemo, who is also co-author of the "Handbook of Wildlife Chemical Immobilization" and teaches immobilization courses.

The Mercedes of injection weapons

"I have been involved in the project since the 1990s and used DANiNJECT equipment the whole time. I still use the IM rifle I bought 30 years ago, and I haven't had to do anything to it other than regular cleaning and changing the O-ring on the gas cartridge. I always recommend DANiNJECT to my colleagues and students. As I usually say, it's the Mercedes of injection weapons. It's one of the most expensive on the market, but the quality is outstanding."

Jon M. Arnemo has several different types of immobilization weapons from DANiNJECT, and in the bear project, it is the IM model with a short barrel that has seen the most use.

"95% of the immobilizations are done from helicopters, where we can get within 5-8 meters of the bear, and then the short barrel works best. But I also have for example a JM Special, which we use to immobilize large animals like moose at a distance of up to 60-70 meters."

Trust in the equipment is essential

Jon M. Arnemo has worked all over the world and has taken DANiNJECT's equipment with him from Svalbard to Nepal to Tanzania.

"I've used it in both -30 and plus 40 degrees Celsius, so there's been a lot of variation in conditions, but I've never experienced a malfunction," he says.

"It's essential to have equipment you can rely on. A lot of our projects are big and expensive and involve a lot of people and complicated logistics, and if you end up out there in the field with a missing detail or a malfunction, you're not going to get the job done."

The simplicity of DANiNJECT's equipment is one of the things that appeals to Jon M. Arnemo.

"There are a number of other models on the market that may look fancy, but the more technology you add, the more potential for error. If you need both a laser scope and a camera or such, you have several battery-powered devices that can fail. I'm a bit conservative, I like simple, functional things."

Updated edition of the number-one handbook

As mentioned, Jon M. Arnemo is the co-author of the Handbook of Wildlife Chemical Immobilization, which is the most recognized and widely used textbook in the field of animal immobilization and has been used for teaching for decades. In the newly released 6th edition, Jon M. Arnemo and senior editor Terry Kreeger are joined by professionals from Canada, South Africa, and Australia.

"This is a book that is used all over the world, so with the new contributors, we ensure that the content also has more global coverage," he says. 

Photo credit: Scandinavian Brown Bear Project