Tranquilizing animals safely and efficiently relies on choosing the right equipment and medications for the job - both when done in the wild, in zoos, and on farms.
In this guide, we will walk you through the best practices and pitfalls of darting and remote tranquilization of animals.
First and foremost, you need to make sure no one on your team gets hurt. When you need to sedate or medicate animals, you risk the animal getting stressed and not responding as planned.
If your equipment fails and the animal isn't correctly hit or the anesthetic is only partially injected into the animal, you risk ending up in a critical situation where you have to find a stressed animal that is trying to escape.
In this situation, you or other members of your team could be hurt while trying to find and capture the animal.
Your objective will always be to carry out your task in a way that causes the least possible harm to the animal.
This is in part about avoiding the equipment failing in a way that the medication is not injected correctly and the animal escapes.
In many cases the drugs used for tranquilizing animals need to be reversed with an antidote, this is why it’s crucial to be able to localize the darted animal. Therefore, misfires of this type are very critical.
Next, it's about choosing equipment that has the least possible impact on the animal. The more precisely you can set the force with which the dart is projected, the better you can ensure that the animal is not harmed.
For example, some rifles are only available with three settings - low, medium, or high power or five settings (1 to 59 - with the risk that the animal's tissue will be damaged if hit with too much force.
On the other hand, if you choose a CO2 rifle where the force can be set precisely according to the distance you need to shoot from, you can ensure that the animal is not harmed by the impact of the dart.
The design of the dart also plays a role in how humanely the animal can be anesthetized. If the stabilizer is designed correctly, it will create both ballistic precision and air resistance late in the flight path, hence helping to slow down the dart just before impact so that the animal is not harmed unnecessarily.
Remote immobilization of animals is often a costly task.
Especially when it comes to research expeditions where a whole team of researchers and veterinarians are involved, and where helicopters, trucks, craits, etc are likely to be used. Every extra day in the field is a big expense.
That's why reliable equipment is not just a matter of safety, but also an investment in getting the job done efficiently and not wasting unnecessary resources due to inefficient or unreliable equipment.
A jabstick is a long pole with a syringe and needle attached to one end. It is a manual device that requires the operator to be within close proximity to the animal (0-2 meters).
It is used for the direct administration of vaccines or other medications to animals.
The difference between the DANiNJECT jabstick and a traditional pole syringe is that the jabstick automatically releases the drug on full impact, making it faster and more reliable.
Jabsticks are especially useful in confined spaces or when handling small to medium-sized animals that can be approached closely without significant risk.
It is also valuable in situations where quiet and minimal disturbance is important.
It is very suitable for dangerous or large animals in protected spaces, but where unprotected close proximity poses a significant risk to the handler it is not ideal. It is also not ideal for use in open areas.
A blowpipe is a long tube through which darts containing sedatives are blown by the operator.
It is used for the remote delivery of immobilizing drugs to small or medium-sized animals, typically at short to moderate distances, i.e. 1-10 meters.
Blowpipes are ideal for use in relatively quiet environments where stealth is necessary, such as in dense vegetation, stables, or urban areas where firearms cannot be used. They are also useful when a gentle approach to immobilization is preferred.
Blowpipes are, however, not effective for long distances or for large thick-skinned animals requiring higher doses of sedatives or thick needles and high pressure to penetrate, as the blowpipe darts have limited capacity, range, and penetration ability.
A tranquilizer pistol is designed to shoot darts filled with sedatives or medications.
Pistols are used for medium-range, i.e. 3-20 meters, immobilization tasks and are effective for a variety of animal sizes.
Pistols are particularly useful in environments where greater precision is required at medium distances, such as stables, capturing stray dogs in urban areas, or immobilizing medium-sized wildlife in open fields.
They are not ideal for very long distances or for situations requiring stealth, where even limited noise may startle the animal. Also, their effective range and accuracy are limited compared to rifles.
A tranquilizer rifle is a medium to long-range (3-80 meters) tool designed to accurately deliver darts filled with immobilizing or treating drugs over greater distances.
It is used for immobilizing or treating animals from a distance, particularly large or dangerous animals, or when operating in open spaces.
Rifles are invaluable in large, open areas where safety and distance are paramount, such as in wildlife reserves or in cases involving large predators, helicopter, or open water operations.
Rifles may not be suitable for use in confined spaces or in situations where over-penetration of the dart could harm the animal, but some rifles can set the pressure soft and precise for very short distances e.g. 1-3 meters They are also not the best choice for very close-range work due to their size and the skill required for safe handling.
You can either choose a CO2 rifle or a rifle that fires with a powder charge. With a high-quality CO2 rifle, you can set the pressure very precisely so that you only dart the animal with the necessary force, making the impact as humane as possible.
With a rifle fired with a powder charge, the dart is fired with greater force and the animal will absorb the excess energy, which can cause tissue damage.
This is the most commonly used needle which is suitable for situations where you don’t need to handle the animal and it is not important that the needle sticks with the animal.
So, usually ideal for administering medications like antibiotics, painkillers or deworming treatment but also immobilization in case there is no risk of losing the animal out of sight.
A needle with a collar can be used to ensure that the needle sticks with the animal long enough for the full dose of a drug to be delivered.
The collar is caught just under the animal's skin and does not harm the tissue in the same way as a barbed needle risks doing.
Needles with one or two barbs are designed to stick with the animal until it is removed by a veterinarian.
The barbed needles are used when you need to be 100% certain that the needle does not drop off. In these cases the dart will usually also hold a transmitter that ensures that the animal can be found again when it runs off after being darted. It can take 5-10 minutes for the animal to be fully tranquilized under normal circumstances.
The case here could be an endangered animal like a rhinoceros where it is of the utmost importance that the animal is found so that the sedation can be reversed again, or simply if a dart misses its target, that it can be found again and be of no more harm.
With a biopsy needle, it is possible to collect a tissue sample from an animal without having to capture the animal.
The needle is designed to easily drop off the animal when the sample is collected. T
his method is becoming increasingly popular since this is a much more cost-effective way of retrieving samples and at the same time causes minimal harm and risk to the animal.
To help choose the right needle size, we have created an overview in of recommended needle sizes for specific animals.
Even if you have the best equipment in your bag, you are still ultimately dependent on the person behind the rifle and their shooting skills.
That's why training is important. If you're going to immobilize animals from a distance, we recommend that you attend courses to learn how to operate the equipment properly and that you continuously train your shooting skills.
Especially if remote tranquilizing or medicating animals is a relatively rare task, it's important to keep your skills up to date so that you can feel confident when you're faced with the situation.
Having well-functioning equipment is also about maintenance. The CO2 rifle doesn't require much work, just wipe it down, make sure it’s dry, and pack it away, but with needles, maintenance is essential.
Some quality darts and needles can be reused multiple times, it's just important that they are properly maintained and cleaned before reuse.
Here you can read about dart maintenance (link), and here you have a guide to cleaning of syringes (link). It is very important that the equipment is cleaned properly, especially if you are using very potent anesthetics and do not want any residues mixed into the next dose.
A third thing you should be disciplined about is reordering medication and possibly restock equipment so that you have everything you need for the next job. Often people forget to reorder and it ends up being a stressful matter of urgency to get the drugs you need for the next job in time.
However, if you have that part covered and have a reliable, quality rifle in your bag and sufficient training in its use, you can face the next task with peace of mind.
You'll know that you'll be able to successfully tranquilize or medicate the animal and that neither animals nor humans will be harmed in the process.
