Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Clawing tiger, hidden manicurist
Dani, 23, the oldest tiger in European captivity, will undergo a risky manicure to file its long claws, managers of the Stropkov zoo, in eastern Slovakia, announced.
"Tigers which do not live in the wild generally have a problem filing their claws, which have a tendency to turn inwards and injure their paws," zoo director, Alexander Soos, told AFP.
The manicure, performed twice before, will take place under sedation, which, given Dani's advanced age, represents a danger to the animal, Soos explained.
Link.
20 Comments:
By 
Yishai, at
Wed Jan 17, 05:23:00 PM:
heh. "Risky" for the tiger? Or for the manicurist?
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Wed Jan 17, 05:59:00 PM:
Even younger wild animals occasionally stop breathing under sedation. When I was with zoologists at an African wildlife preserve, I had to jump up and down on a sedated adult male zebra with my knees to give the animal artificial respiration. (The animal survived.) Fortunately, the zoologists didn't ask me to give the zebra mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
By allen, at
Wed Jan 17, 07:54:00 PM:
How is this for risky?
“Four Royal Marines flew into a battle zone clinging to the outside of helicopter gunships in a bid to rescue a fallen comrade…”
Extraordinary heroism
H/T to Ace
By joated, at
Wed Jan 17, 08:39:00 PM:
I could use some of that sedation when it comes time to clip the claws on my 5 year-old cat. Julie figts like a tiger when I approach with nail clippers in hand.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Wed Jan 17, 09:03:00 PM:
"Julie fights like a tiger when I approach with nail clippers in hand."
Speaking of angry cats, I once accidentally parked a car on a lion's tail.
By TigerHawk, at
Wed Jan 17, 09:19:00 PM:
I must say, DEC, you seem to have had an entertaining time of it.
By GreenmanTim, at
Wed Jan 17, 09:26:00 PM:
I'll see your lion's tail, DEC, and raise you one 16 ft African rock python, which lay across the road and landed me in a ditch one dark night when I hit it at speed in a light pickup truck. I was taking a snake bitten kid to the clinic at the time.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Wed Jan 17, 09:40:00 PM:
The lion was quite unhappy about my mistake. Roaring his discontent, he pounded on my windshield with his paws; then he ran his claws along the fenders, removing the paint.
The cat seemed unhurt. But I felt miserable about my carelessness for weeks.
My most embarrassing incident involved a chimpanzee. When the chimp saw me struggling to peel an orange, he took it, removed the skin, and handed the fruit back to me.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Wed Jan 17, 09:49:00 PM:
To GreenmanTim. Did the child have any serious problems from either the snakebite or the accident?
By 
, at
Wed Jan 17, 10:32:00 PM:
Why do animals have problems with sedation? Are humans uniquely able to tolerate it?
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Wed Jan 17, 11:24:00 PM:
I don't know, Anonymous. Perhaps someone else here can provide the answer. From my experience, many species of the larger wild mammals seem to go into shock more easily than humans do. In addition, some large animals such as hippos often have trouble breathing when they lie down in certain positions. There is a good chance you may kill a hippo if you tranquilize it with a dart.
By , at
Wed Jan 17, 11:34:00 PM:
TIGER TIGER BURNING BRIGHT.IN THE FORST OF THE NIGHT
By GreenmanTim, at
Thu Jan 18, 12:15:00 AM:
Mercifully, DEC, all involved recovered, except the python - a great pity. We got the truck back on the road and made it to the clinic, where there was no antivenin and nothing for it but to put the child to bed and hope for the best. I had used a suction pump on the bite and determined from the description of the snake that bit him and the time that had elapsed that it was unlikely to be fatal.
Nowadays I am on occassion called to respond to a nuisance timber rattlesnake and help it out of harm's way and back toward its den in the hills. Turnabout is fair play.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Thu Jan 18, 12:22:00 AM:
Luckily I never have problems with snakes, GreenmanTim. According to a shaman in Sarawak, snakes go blind if they look at me. Snakes know this and avoid me.
By allen, at
Thu Jan 18, 12:24:00 AM:
Humans are progressively anesthetized while being carefully monitored, following careful preparatory sedation and medical workup; otherwise, the outcomes would be similar. Oh, while humans are shot up, they are not shot at.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Thu Jan 18, 12:28:00 AM:
By GreenmanTim, at
Thu Jan 18, 12:33:00 AM:
Anon and DEC - Stress related complications are the main concern with anesthesia in ungulates and other large animals. General anesthesia carries risks that may include regurgitation and aspiration of gastric contents, inefficient respiratory gas exchange (DEC's zebra), and problems regulating body temperature. If a prolonged chase is involved with a wild animal, hyperthermia and myopathy or muscle weakness may occur.
Stress is the big killer, though. I used to use humane mouse traps that purported to catch mice alive, but several died of fright in the small, confined space of the trap and I no longer use them. If they have to go, it ought to be quick.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Thu Jan 18, 12:35:00 AM:
Thank you for the information, GreenmanTim.
By allen, at
Thu Jan 18, 12:45:00 AM:
GreenmanTim,
Mice can be killed by the sudden exposure to light and noise.
Wild animals, especially large animals, simply cannot be "pampered". It would be ugly to approach a hippo with a hypodermic.
By allen, at
Thu Jan 18, 12:49:00 AM:
Thinking about it, how would one go about administering a subcutaneous injection to a rhino or how about sublingual medication to a giraffe. I MUST stop now.
