Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 November 2021 | 13(13): 20066–20071
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6679.13.13.20066-20071
#6679 | Received 07 September 2020 | Final
received 05 August 2021 | Finally accepted 27 October 2021
Successful rescue, medical management,
rehabilitation, and translocation of a Red Panda Ailurus
fulgens (Mammalia: Carnivora: Ailuridae)
in Arunachal Pradesh, India
Jahan Ahmed 1, Sorang Tadap 2, Millo Tasser 3, Koj Rinya 4, Nekibuddin Ahmed 5
& Sunil Kyarong 6
1 College of Veterinary Science,
Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati, Assam 781022, India.
2 Biological Park, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh 791111, India.
3,4 Department of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change, Arunachal Pradesh 791111, India.
5 Lakhimpur College of Veterinary
Science, Assam Agricultural University, North Lakhimpur, Assam 787051, India.
6 Wildlife Trust of India, F-13,
Sector 8, National Capital Region (NCR), Noida 201301, India.
1 jahan.ahmed6@gmail.com, 2 sorangtadap@gmail.com,
3 tasser.m@gmail.com, 4 dfoziro@gmail.com,
5 nekibahmeds@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 6 sunil@wti.org.in
Editor: Angela R. Glatston,
Red Panda Network, Eugene, USA. Date of publication: 26
November 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Ahmed, J., S. Tadap, M. Tasser, K. Rinya, N. Ahmed & S. Kyarong (2021). Successful rescue, medical
management, rehabilitation, and translocation of a Red Panda Ailurus fulgens
(Mammalia: Carnivora: Ailuridae) in Arunachal
Pradesh, India. Journal of
Threatened Taxa 13(13): 20066–20071. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6679.13.13.20066-20071
Copyright: © Ahmed et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Department of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change, Arunachal Pradesh, India and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)-Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: All the authors thank Mr. Taba Nepa, Block Educational
Officer, Kebi panchayat for rescuing the endangered
species and transferring the animal to the Biological Park, Itanagar
all by himself. Mr. Nepa contacted Mr. Bunty Tao,
Range Forest Officer, Raga, Hapoli Forest Division,
who facilitated and liaised for smooth transferring of the Red Panda to the
Biological Park, Itanagar. The authors are thankful
to the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of
Arunachal Pradesh, Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) Seijosa, Executive Director, Wildlife Trust of India,
Director, Biological Park, Itanagar, Divisional
Forest Officer, Pakke Tiger Reserve, Range Forest
Officers namely Kushal Hazarika, Rayo Flago, Kime Rambia of Department of
Environment and Forest for all the help rendered in the care and treatment of
Red Panda. Thanks are also due to Mr. Indi Glow for his help and suggestions.
It would be inadequate if the name of Animal keeper Mr. Birkhe
Bahadur is not mentioned. He took all the care and responsibility of the animal
during translocation. Thanks are also due to the staffs of Biological park, Itanagar for helping in taking care of the Red Panda during
admission into the zoo facility.
Abstract: We document the rescue of a Red
Panda from Yachuli circle, Lower Subansiri
district and successful translocation to Eaglenest
Wildlife Sanctuary, West Kameng district of Arunachal
Pradesh, India. The head injury was surgically managed under the anaesthetic
combination of ketamine and xylazine, and reversed with yohimbine. The animal
was successfully rehabilitated and translocated in the Eaglenest
Wildlife Sanctuary.
Keywords: Ailuridae,
Anaesthetic combination, Eaglenest Wildlife
Sanctuary, head injury, translocate, Yachuli circle.
Red Panda Ailurus
fulgens is the only living member of the genus Ailurus and the family Ailuridae.
Its present natural home range in India includes the states of Sikkim, West
Bengal (Darjeeling district), and Arunachal Pradesh (Glatston
et al. 2015). The largest population is in Arunachal Pradesh (Choudhury 2001),
and it has been rapidly declining due to habitat loss & fragmentation,
poaching, and inbreeding depression (Glatston et al.
2015). Based on the population estimate, the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species 2015 has listed
the Red Panda under the ‘Endangered’ species category (Glatston
et al. 2015). There is limited information on its management in captivity and
use of anaesthesia for surgical interventions (Jha 2014). This paper documents
the chance rescue of a Red Panda from Yachuli circle
of Lower Subansiri district, its management in
captivity and translocation to Eaglenest Wildlife
Sanctuary, West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh,
India.
Case description
Mr. Taba
Nepa, a Block Educational Officer in profession of Kebi village under the Yachuli
circle, Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh
encountered an injured male Red Panda in his agricultural field on 6th
February, 2016. He rescued the animal and informed the local veterinarian on
the next day for veterinary care. After providing first aid, further contact
was made with the officials at the Biological Park, Itanagar,
Arunachal Pradesh for better health management of the animal. The animal was
handed over to the wildlife veterinarian at the Park on 8th February at around
22.00 hours for further treatment and rehabilitation.
Results
Clinical findings
At arrival in the Biological
Park, the weight of the animal was recorded as 5 kg. It had very feeble body
movement, unresponsiveness to external stimuli, and dyspnoea. There was a
visible swelling on the left side of the axis of head near the zygomatic
process, with a laceration over the lateral canthus of the left eye which
required suturing. The animal was moderately dehydrated owing to anorexia which
was ascribed to the injury, followed by pain and stress during transportation.
Based on overall clinical status we assessed the condition as critical
necessitating emergency veterinary care.
Veterinary care
A whole body radiographic
investigation revealed no evidence of skeletal damage (Image 1). The cut injury
was cleaned with antiseptic solution and topical antibiotic ointment was
applied. The animal was immediately put under treatment with parenteral long
acting antibiotic [enrofloxacin @ 7.5 mg/kg body weight i.m.
(Fortivir, Virbac Animal
Health India Pvt. Ltd.)], NSAID [nimesulide
@ 5 mg/kg body weight i.m. (Nimovet,
Indian Immunologicals Ltd.)], steroid [Dexamethasone
@ 2 mg i.m. [Dexona, Zydus
Animal Health Ltd.)], liver supportive [@5 ml orally (Liv.52, The Himalaya Drug
Company)] and multivitamin supplement [@ 5 ml orally (Intacal
Pet, Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd.)]. The condition was
monitored at every hour. After 24 hours of medication and care, there was
improvement in the body condition, evidenced by physical movement and slight
responses to external stimuli. The treatment regime was continued for seven
days with a daily recommended diet as practiced elsewhere (Padmaja Naidu
Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India). Initially, the feeding schedule was divided
into three times a day (morning, afternoon and evening). Gradually the
frequency was narrowed down to twice a day (morning and evening) and then once
daily (evening) as the Red Panda is a nocturnal animal. The diet composition
was gradually substituted to its natural diet, i.e., bamboo leaves and shoots
by decreasing the feeding of supplements (Table 1). There was significant
recuperation on a daily basis after hospitalization in the Park facility. The
swelling on the head subsided. After two weeks of hospitalization, the Red
Panda was administered with albendazole @ 25 mg/kg b.w.
orally (Wormer Vet, Legend Remedies Pvt. Ltd.) for
three consecutive days along with liver supportive supplement @ 5 ml orally
(Liv.52, The Himalaya Drug Company). On the 3rd week the Red Panda
was vaccinated against Rabies virus @ 1 ml intramuscular (Raksharab,
Indian Immunologicals Ltd.) to be followed by a
booster after one month, thereafter to be repeated annually.
As the clinical condition was
significantly improved, the animal had to be translocated to a rehabilitation
facility located at the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary
in the West Kameng district, which is 290 km west
from the Biological Park. Prior to translocation a thorough health check-up was
warranted. This demanded sedation of the animal on 32nd day of
hospitalization.
Preoperative, operative and
post-operative procedures
Before sedation, food and water
was withheld for 12 hours. Weight of the animal was recorded to be 5 kg (Image
2). Accordingly, two anaesthetics were selected for intramuscular
administration, i.e., ketamine HCl and xylazine HCl combination @ 10 mg/kg b.w.
and 0.4 mg/kg b.w., respectively. The drug induction
and down time was at three and seven minutes after administration of
anaesthesia, respectively (Image 3). The vital parameters of the animal were
recorded (Table 2). Anaesthesia was maintained for 25 minutes to complete
suturing of the wound.
During complete sedation, the
lacerated wound was cleaned with non-irritant antiseptic. The lesion was closed
with simple interrupted sutures (Image 4). Postoperatively, it was medicated
with antibiotic [Ceftriaxone @ 20 mg/kg body weight (Intacef,
Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd.)], NSAID [Meloxicam @ 0.2
mg/kg body weight (Melonex, Intas
Pharmaceuticals Ltd.)] with multivitamin supplement (Tribivet,
Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd.) to be continued for five
consecutive days. Once the post-operative procedures were accomplished,
different physical and physiological parameters were recorded (Image 5, 6;
Table 3, 4) and a microchip was implanted with No - 961 001000005995
subcutaneous on the left side of the neck region (Image 7).
Anaesthetic reversal
As reversal, yohimbine HCl @ 0.4 mg/kg b.w., i.m. was selected. Recovery was completed in 14 minutes of
reversal administration.
Translocation and rehabilitation
For transportation of the animal
to the rehabilitation facility, a cage was prepared (Image 8) by mobile
veterinary service unit of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). On the 41st
day of hospitalization the animal was successfully translocated and
rehabilitated in the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary
into a separate enclosure (Image 9). The enclosure was cuboidal in shape,
measured 60 feet in diameter and height of 12 feet at the periphery and 17 feet
in the centre. There was a refuge den which was covered inside the enclosure
with facility for watering and feeding (Image 10).
Discussion
The present episode reveals a
sustained rescue operation of an injured individual from an endangered (IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species 2015) and Schedule-I species (Wildlife
Protection Act, 1972 ) from Yachuli circle of Lower Subansiri district, its successful veterinary care with
translocation and rehabilitation effort to Eaglenest
Wildlife Sanctuary in the West Kameng district of
Arunachal Pradesh, India. Red Pandas have been recorded from 11 districts of
Arunachal Pradesh: Changlang, Dibang
Valley, East Kameng, East Siang, Lohit,
Lower Subansiri, Upper Siang, Upper Subansiri, West Kameng, West
Siang and Tawang (Choudhury 2001; Chakraborty et al.
2015). Clandestine wildlife poaching and illegal trade is rampant worldwide
wherever there is rich biodiversity. Under what circumstances the present Red
Panda was rescued from its habitat is unclear, but the presence of traumatic
swelling on head and the laceration was possible indication of a malicious
attempt on its life. However, adequate veterinary care and medication in time
could sustain its life. The treatment and feeding schedule with feed
ingredients were found effective which progressively restored the animal’s
health. The confinement of the animal
into a dark area during induction of anaesthesia was also suggested by Roberts
& Glatston (1994). This minimizes excitement and
stress to the patient, and lowers the amount of anaesthetic drugs required.
Dissociative anaesthetics in combination with sedatives or tranquilizers are
the choice of anaesthesia for Red Pandas as ketamine HCl
at the dose rate of 11–14 mg/kg body weight alone usually results in extreme
muscle rigidity and minor Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulations. Hence,
ketamine HCl at the dose rate of 5–10 mg/kg b.w. in combination with xylazine HCl
at the dose rate of 0.2–0.4 mg/kg b.w. for
immobilization in juvenile and adult Red Pandas was indicated (Wolff et al.
1990; AZA Small Carnivore TAG 2012; Jha 2014). Use of above combinations of
anaesthetics and dose rate induced anaesthesia smoothly which was reproducible
and found safe. Vital parameters recorded during anaesthesia (Table 2) were in
agreement with the observations of Willesen et al.
(2012). The physical parameters recorded (Table 3) may be of use for further
growth and development studies in captivity. Present physical findings were
similar to the observations of previous researchers (Burrell et al. 2018). The
haematological and biochemical parameters (Table 4) were in corroboration with
the findings of Wolff et al. (1990) for healthy male and female Red Pandas of
all age groups indicating the normal physiological activity of the animal.
These data may be used as baseline data for rescue and rehabilitation facility
managers. In the present study yohimbine HCl was used
@ 0.4 mg/kg b.w. intramuscularly. Philippa & Ramsay (2011) recorded that
the effects of xylazine HCl can be reversed with
yohimbine HCl @ 0.125 mg/kg b. w. using subcutaneous,
intramuscular or intravenous route. There are also reports that yohimbine
antagonized the xylazine HCl portion of
ketamine-xylazine HCl anaesthetic combinations and
thereby hastened smooth recovery from anaesthesia in Asiatic Lions, Tigers, and
Leopards (Sontakke et al. 2009). The anaesthetic
effect was successfully reversed in 14 minutes after the use of reversal
indicating the procedure was safe and effective. The animal started normal
feeding from the evening of same day and recovered uneventfully.
Combination of ketamine HCl and xylazine HCl is
frequently used for immobilization, rescue and surgical interventions in
wildlife. This paper represents a successful rescue, chemical immobilization
for surgical management of head injury, rehabilitation, and translocation of a
Red Panda in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. This rescue operation was
the first instance record of Red Panda in Yachuli
circle, Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal
Pradesh, India.
Table 1. Diet composition of Red
Panda.
Constituents |
Quantity |
Milk |
200 ml |
Honey |
20 ml |
Banana |
1 no. |
Apple |
200 g |
Bamboo shoots and leaves |
4 kg |
Raw egg |
1 no. |
Drinking water |
1 l |
Table 2. Data of vital parameters
during anaesthesia.
Parameters |
Recorded data |
Body temperature |
37.6 0C |
Heart rate |
93 beats/min |
Respiratory rate |
21 breathes/min |
Ocular reflex |
Present |
Table 3. Mean physical
measurements of body
Parameters |
Length |
Length from nostril to base of
tail |
68.5 cm |
Length of tail (base to tip) |
42 cm |
Neck girth |
23cm |
Height of fore leg |
20.5 cm |
Height of hind leg |
20.5 cm |
Table 4. Haematological and
biochemical parameters
Parameter |
Value |
Haemoglobin (g/dl) |
12.5 |
Glucose (mg/dl) |
75.5 |
Total protein (g/dl) |
6.8 |
Alkaline phosphatase (IU/L) |
35.8 |
Asparatate aminotransferase
(IU/L) |
74.5 |
Alanine aminotransferase (IU/L) |
77.1 |
Total bilirubin (mg/dl) |
0.3 |
Creatinine (mg/dl) |
0.8 |
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