SECRETARY'S REPORT 169 



A female spotted hyaena died May 12, 1961. No report has come 

 in as yet from the AFIP except that the animal had mammary tmnors. 

 Both this hyaena and the male, which died in 19G0, were received at 

 the Park July 1, 1947. 



The use of the intramuscular, long-acting barbiturate "Capchur- 

 barb" was continued, both in the projectile syringe and by hand 

 syringe. Among the animals requiring sedation or anesthesia with 

 this drug were two American alligators, an eland antelope, a prong- 

 horn antelope, zebu cow, American elk, raccoon, bighorn sheep, puma, 

 capuchin monkey, Java macaque, lesser panda, and Grevy's zebra. An- 

 other anesthetic preparation that was fomid most useful was the 

 rectal thiopental sodium (Pentothal- Abbott). This drug is packaged 

 in disposable plastic syringes for immediate use with a graduated 

 plunger and two separate applicators per syringe. This type of seda- 

 tion or anesthesia was used for short procedures and for restraint on 

 primates and carnivores. 



Dr. Wright made two trips to a game farm in Florida and one to 

 the quarantine station in New Jersey at the request of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture for the purpose of immobilizing captive wild 

 animals with the projectile syringe method. The drug used in these 

 immobilizations was succinylcholine chloride, with one exception de- 

 scribed below. The list of animals successfully immobilized with 

 succinylcholine includes 23 Grant's zebra, 11 Grevy's zebra, 8 Damara 

 zebra, 17 eland, 4 greater kudu, 4 beisa oryx, 2 blackbuck, 2 aoudad, 

 1 hartebeest, 1 brindled gnu, 3 nilghai, 1 American bison, 3 red deer, 

 1 giraffe, 1 spotted hyaena, and 1 white-handed gibbon. In addition 

 to these, 5 white-tailed gnus were immobilized with the drug gal- 

 lamine triethiodide (Flaxedil-Lederle). On the basis of reports re- 

 ceived from investigators in Africa it seemed that this latter drug 

 was more satisfactory for immobilizing wildebeest. However, both 

 gallamine and succinylcholine have been used successfully in tliis type 

 of animal. Complete reports on these immobilizations are in 

 preparation. 



Dr. Wright's paper "The Inmiobilization of Captive Wild Animals 

 with Succinylcholine II," prepared in collaboration with Dr. Warren 

 R. Pistey of the New England Institute for Medical Research, was 

 published by the Canadian Journal of Comparative Medicine, vol. 25, 

 No. 3, March 1961. 



A demonstration of the use of the projectile syringe was given at 

 the University of Maryland for a combined meeting of the Maryland 

 State Veterinary Medical Association, the District of Columbia 

 Veterinary Medical Association, American Animal Hospital Associa- 

 tion, and the District of Columbia Academy of Veterinary Medicine. 



Dr. F. R. Lucas, Livestock Sanitary Laboratory, Centreville, Md., 



