Module # 1 – Natural Navigation - WildlifeCampus · This Module covers animal behaviour under...

– Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife Course

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1

Carnivore Capture

Module 9 - Component 1

Carnivore Capture

Introduction

This Module covers animal behaviour under capture situations to help interpret the

behavioural patterns seen and to predict each species’ reaction to the techniques

described, particularly their vulnerability to capture stress in each situation. Of interest

will be behaviour, not generally known to wildlife enthusiasts, unless they are directly

involved in capturing. All the large carnivore species are discussed here.




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Carnivore Capture

Capture Dosages

4 mg of Ketamine per kg.

For smaller or caged lions, mix 2,5 ml of 100 mg per ml of Xylazine directly into 1 g (1000

mg) of Ketamine powder and 1,5 ml of water, producing a concentration of

approximately 200 mg of Ketamine and 50 mg of Xylazine per ml.

Top up with Ketamine if necessary.

OR

2,5 mg of Zoletil per kg.

The standard dose, however, may be increased to 5 mg per kg body weight,

depending on the duration of anaesthesia required.

Never use a mix of Zoletil and Ketamine/Xylazine – use either the one or the other.




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Carnivore Capture

Lions are the largest of the carnivore species in Africa, with males averaging 200 kg

and females 130 kg, although large males may reach 250 kg in mass. They are robust,

powerful animals that prefer to roam as a pride of up to 12 individuals. They are both

diurnal and nocturnal in behaviour, favouring nocturnal activity in areas where they

are more threatened. At night they are bolder and therefore more dangerous,

particularly around food that is put out for capture purposes. They are less concerned

by humans at night than during daylight hours, when their natural fear of man is more

apparent. They dislike human presence and generally avoid it. While feeding,

however, they become exceedingly brave, depending on how hungry they are.

Hence, they are prone to man-eating when hungry enough. Lions are efficient killing

machines and there is little in nature they cannot either overcome or avoid, including

elephants. When confronted with angry elephants, for example, lions simply move

around them calmly, often even playing with them. Capture operators tend to forget

that these animals are dangerous and what appears to be a routine capture may

quickly become ugly. Therefore, a powerful sidearm, at least a .357 Magnum, should

be worn at all times when dealing with lions.




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Carnivore Capture

Although lions often kill for their food, they are attracted to easy food and will

scavenge and steal prey when afforded the opportunity. Generally, they are unable

to resist animals in obvious distress and their natural instinct is to investigate and attack

the animals as a possible food source. Owing to their more aggressive nature, lions are

reasonably easily approached and darted, particularly at night. While feeding, they

tolerate intrusion and strong light, even though they may have been suspicious during

their approach. They will, however, attempt to drag the carcass away from the light,

so it needs to be chained down well. When an animal is darted and reacts

aggressively on impact, it often blames its neighbour for the disturbance and then

resumes feeding! It is possible to dart the entire pride in this way.

While these observations are true of lions in unmolested situations, stock-raiding lions

venturing out of protected areas can be very cunning. They will avoid the slightest

indication of human presence, depending on the level of earlier contact. They should

be caught or culled as soon as they begin to raid stock, as failed attempts only serve

to educate them to a point where they become less and less predictable. They

cleverly avoid traps and systems that are repeated against them thereafter.

Interestingly, this ability seems to differ depending on where the stock-raiding lions are

at the time. They tend to associate their behavioural pattern with the area rather than

their “crime”, so that a periodic stock-raider would be more trusting of human

presence in a national park than in an adjacent cattle ranch, for example. The animal

generally then would be easier to deal with in the protected area where its natural

defence is reduced unless, of course, it has been wounded.




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Carnivore Capture

Then its survival instincts would become more prevalent, as is true of all carnivores. The

outcome of this behaviour is that unmolested lions are attracted to magnified sound

recordings of an animal in distress, even over several kilometres, depending on sound

quality and carry. Squealing pigs work particularly well, interrupted occasionally with

feeding sounds of hyaenas and lions. The animals are attracted to the bait, such as

carcass remains and/or stomach content, assisted by draglines leading to the bait

from different directions. The “killing ground” is carefully selected beforehand to

provide an open darting area at the preferred darting distance of 30–40 m downwind.

The bait is tied securely to a large tree supporting the sound and light equipment. Thorn

bushes are strategically arranged so that the lions can only approach the bait from

the darting side. The dart position, usually a vehicle for security, is appropriately

covered and hidden by bushes, more to break up its form than to camouflage it

completely.

Gas-powered projectors with air pressured darts, such as Telinject® and Dan- inject®,

are preferred. They are quieter and obviously less disturbing to the feeding lions.

Telescopic sights are a necessity to provide for precision dart placement. It is important

to ensure that all the darted animals are accounted for and down, before

approaching on foot or searching with an additional vehicle, if necessary. For problem

animal control purposes, individual lions may be caught in trap cages or gin traps, but

darting is a far better option.




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Carnivore Capture

On releasing the animal back to the wild, care must be taken that its recovery is

supervised to prevent attacks by other predators. Reversal of the Xylazine component

is also advised. An alternative to the capture dosages is as follows: mix 4 ml of diluted

water into 1 g (1000 mg) of Ketamine powder base to provide a concentration of

approximately 250 mg of Ketamine per ml of mixture (N.B. Powder adds to the volume,

amounting to 4,5 instead of 4). Add the entire volume to 500 mg of base Xylazine,

bringing the total volume to 5 ml. Therefore each ml contains 200 mg of Ketamine and

100 mg of Xylazine. A 3 ml dart, therefore, will deliver 600 mg of Ketamine and 300 mg

of Xylazine.

This dosage will be sufficient to knock down a free-ranging lion but might require

further Ketamine to keep the animal down. Current thought is to reduce the amount

of cyclohexylamine used and to increase the sedative component, which can be

reversed so that the animal comes around more quickly and can avoid other

predators. Meltzer (personal communication): 2 mg per kg of Ketamine and 0,1 mg

per kg of Medetomidine; or Fahlaman (personal communication): 1 mg of Zoletil per

kg and 0,04 mg of Medetomidine per kg. The combination of Medetomidine with

Zoletil allows a significant reduction in the principal anaesthetic (Zoletil) used.




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Carnivore Capture

Leopard

Capture Dosages

Zoletil OR Ketamine/Xylazine cocktails are effective for leopards at slightly higher

dosages per kg live weight than for lions. Use 5 mg of Zoletil per kg

OR

10 mg per kg of Ketamine and 50 mg of Xylazine as an alternative.


Leopard males average 55–60 kg and females 35 kg. They are nocturnal and

extremely secretive, depending on the prevailing level of disturbance. They are

dangerous animals and will not hesitate to attack if they feel threatened in any way,

for example, even if only aimed at in a cornered situation. Leopards are generally not

darted in the wild. They are best caught in a box trap first before being immobilised,

particularly in problem control situations. Gin traps and steel box traps are both

effective tools in the control of problem leopards. These traps are set so that the

targeted animal can only get to the bait through the trap system. The traps are

checked daily. Proceed with caution, because if the animal escapes at this point, it

will almost certainly attack. Always have a suitable sidearm present during any activity

around leopards.




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Carnivore Capture

Once caught in a trap, a leopard is extremely ferocious and must be immobilised

before it is moved, to prevent injury to itself and people. It is darted in the cage and

the cage covered with a tarpaulin until the animal finally goes down. Where this is not

possible, an oral squirt of Ketamine helps to immobilise leopards sufficiently so that they

can be darted. This is best achieved by a second person attracting the animal while

it is being darted by another. Where leopards are not at all molested and have been

conditioned to people, such as in a national park, they may be darted. However, the

darting area requires much preparation beforehand, attracting the animal to bait in

much the same way as when hunting it. Once the animal is feeding regularly, it may

be darted from a camouflaged vehicle using a dart covered with reflective tape to

help locate it at night.




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Carnivore Capture

Hyaena

Capture Dosages

3–5 mg of Zoletil per kg

OR

a combination of 12–15 mg of Ketamine and 1–2 mg of Xylazine per kg.


A hyaena pack is led by a dominant female, which is larger than the males. The

females are generally heavier (70 kg) than males (60 kg), and their genital organs

resemble those of males on the outside. Hyaenas have an extremely good sense of

smell and are not frequently caught using box traps or gin traps. Where gin traps are

to be considered, they require decontamination through a hot water and wax

process. Cage traps, if used, must be strongly constructed to withstand the hyaena’s

strong jaws. In areas where hyaenas are not persecuted, they can easily be caught

by lacing bait with phencyclidine. At dusk, suitable bait stations are set up around the

area, preferably on open ground. They are made up of half an impala carcass cut

through the middle and tied securely to a tree. The baits are checked after a few

hours. If hyaenas are in attendance, the baits are laced with Sernylan, injected either

directly into the meat or in capsules buried within the meat.




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Carnivore Capture

The bait is left for 30–40 minutes and then revisited to check on the feeding animals.

Usually, none are down but they are sufficiently drugged to permit darting with a

Ketamine and Xylazine combination. Morkel (personal communication) suggests that

10–30 15 mg Midazolam (Dormicum) tablets set in liver or kidneys be placed on top of

the carcass. This has the same effect on lions, in that the animals become less wary

and are easier to approach for darting. Hyaenas may be “called” to bait using a

powerful sound recording of animals in distress. They are, however, less likely to stand

after darting and will run off if successfully darted, with a high probability of becoming

lost. Unlike the cats, hyaenas may be darted with 3 mg of M99 and 30 mg of Xylazine

to provide for quick recovery in lion country, although the excitement phase is more

marked.




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Carnivore Capture

Cheetah

Capture Dosages

350–400 mg of Ketamine and 20 mg of Xylazine for an adult male, and 300–400 mg of

Ketamine and 20 mg of Xylazine for an adult female

OR

120–150 mg of Zoletil for adult males and 80–120 mg of Zoletil for adult females.


Cheetahs are on the increase in the commercial ranch areas of southern Africa and

occasionally require capture. Adult males weigh 50–55 kg and adult females 40–45 kg.

They are reported to be the fastest animal on earth, easily overtaking their prey

provided the chase is short. They lack stamina, though, and are unable to sustain the

chase for more than 400 m. Cheetahs need to devour their prey quickly to avoid other

predators, which easily steal from them. They rarely return to a carcass, which makes

trapping or darting over a carcass very difficult. They may on occasion be attracted

by a live, noisy goat in a separate cage, surrounded by thorn bushes in which

separate, open-ended cages are set in order to approach the goat.




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Carnivore Capture

On occasion, they have been run down using a horse with dogs. They are then bayed

up in a small tree and hand-caught fairly easily, as they are seldom known to attack.

Cheetahs have been caught in conventional plastic bomas and loaded directly into

a mass crate before immobilisation. The drive must obviously be slow and short before

they tire out and refuse to be driven any further. They may be darted by approaching

them slowly with a vehicle in the field, especially when they are lying down. Never use

Clopixol-Acuphase for cheetahs. In Namibia, success has been reported using cage

traps set around a marking tree (Purchase, personal communication). The trap should

be elongated, using two traps set one behind the other and employing only the end

doors. In this way, both doors are set in the open position, providing a tunnel that is the

only access to the marking tree. When the animal attempts to use the tunnel, both

doors are tripped as it proceeds through. In Zimbabwe, though, these marking spots

have been more difficult to determine and horses and dogs are more often used to

capture cheetahs.




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Carnivore Capture

Wild Dog

Capture Dosages

A 50 mg total dose of Zoletil

OR

A mixture of 5 mg of Ketamine and 0,5 mg of Xylazine per kg body mass.


The mass of a wild dog is 25–30 kg for both males and females. Occasionally, these

animals need to be translocated, which requires considerable forethought and

planning as to their new location and preparing for their release there. Wild dogs

function as a coordinated unit and it is unlikely that they can survive alone in the long

term. Translocation, therefore, must involve all the members of the pack. Darting of

individuals is also out of the question unless it is for radio collaring or for veterinary

treatment.




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Carnivore Capture

Moving a whole pack is a prolonged process, involving firstly the collaring of the

dominant female some time before and monitoring her movements. Ideally, capture

should be arranged when the pack is nursing whelps, as this ties them to an area. On

occasion, they have been caught in a plastic boma, set without the forward section

and ramp. Instead, it was rounded to form a blunt end in which drop nets were placed

to snag individual animals. These were then bound and immobilised. The author

believes, however, that the standard net boma would prove to be a better option.

Wild dogs missed in the drive may be snared at the den mouth, using an American

humane cable snare, and the whelps dug out. Wild dog packs should be released in

a diamond mesh, steel fence release pen of at least 1000 m2, with a dug den provided

to habituate them after capture.

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