Restraint of Zoo Animals

Restraint of Zoo Animals

There are many ways in which animals of any species can be restrained using various different forms of equipment. It is an important tool to be able to restrain animals because this allows people to be able to examine them, provide them with any medicine necessary, and to be able to take care of them correctly in a safe manner. Two animals which commonly need to be restrained are Tigers and Snakes and there are many different forms of equipment which are used to aid in restraining them.

Tigers need to be restrained, especially in captivity for many reasons including to examine them and to administer medication. One form of restraint equipment for a tiger is a crush cage which is shown in the picture on the left. These are a good form of restraint because they offer a simple way to administer medication such as vaccinations, antibiotics and other shots. As the tiger moves through the cage it is briefly squeezed against the bars so the keepers can inject them most commonly in their shoulders. This is a quicker, safer and less stressful method than certain other methods such as a dart gun, which might hit a bone or an eye or not fully inject the medication into an animal. It is definitely a safer method than immobilization. By using the crush cage, tigers are freed again almost instantly before they have even realised what has actually happened. They work by having openings in both sides of the cage, and tigers can be conditioned to enter these, they are then shut in and as they are specially sized so that the tiger doesn’t have any room to move about this allows keepers to be able to get close to the cats without putting them in any danger, the mesh allows for keepers to be able to inject the cats or take blood without risking injury and then the cats can be quickly released through the door on the other side. They are best for restraining tigers for short periods of time.

Another method used to restrain a tiger is through chemical sedation. Chemical restraint is a form of medical restraint in which a drug is used to restrict the freedom or movement of an animal or in some cases to completely sedate an animal. Or another form of chemical sedation is where the animal is injected directly with the medicine it requires. The four main types of chemical sedation are pole syringes, blowpipes, dart pistols and dart guns. Pole syringes are cheap, safe and quiet but are only useful when an animal is physically restrained in things such as a crush cage. Blowpipes are probably the cheapest and the safest however they have a range of only 10-15 metres and require considerable practise to be used effectively. Dart pistols are more accurate and have a greater range than blowpipes (they have a range of up to 20 metres), however they are more expensive and more powerful which could also mean greater danger to the target animal. Lastly dart rifles provide the greatest range of up to 50 metres, and are the system choice for large open enclosures, but they are also the most expensive and most dangerous of the equipment and require the largest amount of training to be able to be used effectively. The drugs must be drawn up by a veterinarian to ensure that the right amount of the drug is being used for the individual animal and to ensure that everything is as it should be. There is a certain piece of documentation in which people require when operating dart guns of any sort and that is a fire arms license. They are obtained through the local police force and have to be renewed every three years. It is essential for any zoo that houses carnivores to acquire a firearms license under the zoo licensing act.

The last method of restraint that is going to be talked about for a tiger is target training which a fairly new form of restraint. Target training is when keepers work closely alongside the tigers training them to touch targets for a reward which can then lead to keepers performing physical examinations on the cat through a barrier. This is an extremely useful restraint method because it is extremely safe and causes minimal stress to the animal, in fact it could be seen as making examinations which would normally be stressful for a tiger fun because they get rewarded and it keeps them stimulated. The only fault in this method is that it is very time consuming and it takes a very long time to train a tiger fully so that a proper physical examination can be carried out. Through target training tigers can be trained to do a variety of things such as lie down with their bodies against the mesh, allow keepers to pull their tails through the gaps in the mesh, to stand on their hind legs with their bellies exposed to the mesh, and even to open their mouths on command.

Snakes are a very different animal to try and restrain and so therefore there are many different pieces of equipment and methods used to restrain them. The most common one is known as a snake hook. The advantages of this is that it is cheap, allows for minimal contact and handling of the snake and they are very safe. The disadvantages however are if you are not careful you could easily harm the snake especially if you try to pin its head with the snake hook and so therefore you must be able to use it properly and carefully for it to be fully affective. Snake hooks work by allowing people to manipulate and hold a snake away from themselves and others; usually they are used while the said person is holding the snake by the tail as extra support in order to control the head so that the snake is incapable of turning to bite. Snake hooks can also be used to restrain the head so that people can safely grab the snake, this is done by pinning the head to the ground so that the snake is unable to move it (make sure too much pressure isn’t applied), this allows keepers to then reach down and grab the snake so that it is safely restrained.

Another form of restraint equipment used to restrain a snake it a shift box. There are many different designs of shift boxes but their basic function remains the same, they are used to completely restrain a snake and allow keepers to have no direct contact with the snake. These are great pieces of equipment for either administering jabs or putting the snake under anaesthesia. They are most commonly used for venomous snakes which can’t be handled. The disadvantages of these are that you have to be properly trained in how to use them effectively, they can be expensive and they can be over designed which maximises the chance of their being a door left unsecured allowing for the snake to escape. But overall they are a very effective tool used to completely restrain a snake while causing minimal stress. Shift boxes are made up of various entrance and exit points for the snake and various compartments. The compartments vary in size so that people can choose the most appropriate one to correctly restrain the snake for the procedure they are carrying out and also depending on the size of the snake. Snakes can once again be trained to enter these, especially when there is one permanently placed in their enclosure. Shift boxes consist of many sliding doors which are used in order to restrain snakes appropriately by shutting them into appropriately sized compartments, they can then be allowed to exit through one of the many exit holes once the procedure is complete.

Another common piece of equipment used to restrain snakes is a snake tube. These are once again a good piece of equipment to be used to restrain venomous snakes and they are a lot simpler to use compared to shift boxes. They are also a lot cheaper compared to shift boxes. The main fault in snake tubes is that you have to ensure that it is the right size for the snake; if not then the snake will either be able to turn round and bite a keeper or escape the tube or when they try to leave the tube after the procedure they will become stuck. Both of these are very dangerous occurrences. Snake tubes are the best piece of equipment to use when you are injecting a snake with something or taking blood because this gives you complete control over a snake and is neither stressful for you or the snake and allows things to be over in minutes. The only thing you must ensure with snake tubes is that you are careful, calm and take your time. If things are rushed then things are more likely to go wrong, especially when entering the snake into the tube to begin with because this is when keepers are most vunerable to a bite. Snake tubes actually work most of the time by gently encouraging the snake to crawl through the tube itself and then once it is about half way through the snake should be grabbed and held in place while the procedure is being carried out, it can then be let go and allowed to exit once the procedure is complete. You should hold the snake as shown in the picture on the left. It is important that the snake is held in this way because otherwise it could easily wriggle the tube off of its body so therefore it would not be properly restrained and this could prove very dangerous for both the restrainer and the snake. Some snakes can be difficult to encourage into a snake tube and in this case you would need to first restrain the snake using a snake hook and then grabbing its head and the pushing it into the tube and removing your hand quickly as you let go. This is the method used commonly for bigger and more venomous snakes.

It is incredibly important to keep accurate and up to date records of restraint procedures of animals to ensure that there is a clear outline of how to safely restrain an individual as all animals are slightly different. Risk assessments should also be carried out for each form of restraint for each animal so that people are aware of any risks that might occur and also so that dangers and accidents can be avoided. These are all essential thanks to legislations such as The Animal Welfare Act and The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order. Another important thing to consider when restraining animals is that the equipment remains in good condition and is regularly checked; this is extremely important as if the restraint equipment is not kept in good condition it may become inaffective when keepers are using it and this could put people and animals in very comprimising and dangerous situations. These are examples of some of the paperwork required for when restraining or moving animals, you also must have a firearms license if you euthanise a zoo animal and you must be able to prove that it was necessary. You must also have to correct documentation for animals stating that you are legally allowed to transport them (especially when it is to a different country) and you must be able to prove that their welfare need and 5 freedoms are being met and that they are not overly stressed. If there are any issues with any of these then you will not be allowed to transport the animal any further. Another important piece of paperwork when it comes to the restraint of zoo animals is certificates proving that animal keepers have attended training days and had appropriate training and experience at restraining said animals to ensure that they know what they are doing to limit the risks of things going wrong and harm coming to the keepers or the animals. CITES is an organisation which aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival, this covers the restraint of animals because often they must be restrained for transportation especially between countries and so they ensure that animals are restrained successfully and under the correct guidelines and they also constantly moniter this and zoos must have the correct paperwork in order to transport animals to ensure that everything is CITES approved. ISIS stands for the International Species Information System and its website details which species of animals are held in which zoos all over the world and so therefore holds an invaluable amount of data which aids zoos in trading in animals and is a vital key to successful breeding programs through countries, this is so important as without it it would be incredibly difficult to put together breeding programs especially when  it comes to very endangered animals. ARKS stands for Animal Record Keeping system and is a part of ISIS and is a brilliant example of record keeping for zoo animals and highlights just how important it is. This holds animal information on animals from 650 different zoos from around the world which has created a brilliant resource that has enhanced the cooperation of zoos worldwide. This allows keepers to compare experiences and share vital information and findings with each other in a very quick and easy manner. So therefore this highlights just how important records are, especially on a worldwide scale.