FEATURES OF REMOTE SEDATION OF THE NORTHERN FUR SEAL IN NATURAL HABITAT

Abstract

One of the global environmental problems facing man is the pollution of the oceans by industrial and household garbage. Several hundred seals and sea lions injured by foreign objects are registered annually in reproductive rookeries. Without timely release, these animals are doomed to perish. In this regard, the purpose of the work was to test the technique of freeing injured marine mammals from foreign objects of anthropogenic origin using methods of remote sedation of animals. The problem of implementing measures for the release of marine mammals is associated, among other things, with the lack of proven methods and dosages of sedatives for these animals.

In the course of this study, it was revealed that in order to carry out remote sedation, the following factors must be taken into account: weather conditions, distance to water, the presence of other animals between the object and the water, terrain features, danger from other animals, the place of the shot, the dose. The choice of an animal must be carried out depending on the period (harem / post-harem), age, psychological state, body weight and physical condition. In the course of working out the technique of freeing injured marine mammals from foreign objects of anthropogenic origin using methods of remote sedation of animals in a natural habitat, an algorithm for remote sedation using a Bushnell HOLO sight daninject 2528 mod jm remote injector was developed and tested (barrel diameter 11 mm, pressure in the applicator chamber 5 Bar (500 kPa), the size of the syringe-dart for sedation CMC 2-3 ml, needle length 4 cm), a scheme of combined anesthesia with the help of zoletil 100 (telazol) and medin (medetomedin) 1% has also been developed and successfully tested.