{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T20:59:59Z","timestamp":1791233999710,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"Wildlife Disease Association","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Journal of Wildlife Diseases"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) are frequently captured for research and management, often using drug combinations that include potent opioids. We evaluated an alternative combination of butorphanol-azaperone-medetomidine (BAM) plus ketamine (KBAM) for helicopter-based captures of free-ranging caribou. The study included 61 animals from four herds captured between October 2024 and April 2025: 30 female calves and 31 adult cows. Initially, 11 calves were immobilized with 1 mL BAM and 50 mg ketamine; subsequently, the ketamine dose was reduced to 30 mg for the remaining calves. Adult cows received 1.75\u20132.25 mL BAM with 50 mg ketamine. Overall, 22\/30 calves were weighed, and doses (mean \u00b1SD [range]) were 0.51\u00b10.04 (0.43\u20130.60) mg\/kg for butorphanol, 0.17\u00b10.01 (0.14\u20130.20) mg\/kg for azaperone, and 0.21\u00b10.01 (0.17\u20130.24) mg\/kg for medetomidine. Mean ketamine doses were 0.96\u00b10.08 (0.85\u20131.10) mg\/kg for calves receiving 50 mg and 0.55\u00b10.04 (0.48\u20130.63) mg\/kg for calves receiving 30 mg. Mean time from darting to recumbency was 4.1 min (range 2\u20138 min) for calves and 6.3 min (range 3\u201316 min) for adults, and mean time from intramuscular reversal with atipamezole and naltrexone to standing was 5.4 min (range 1\u201312 min) for calves and 6.0 min (range 1\u201338 min) for cows. No capture-related mortalities were observed within 1 mo post-release. All animals experienced hypoxemia, which improved with intranasal oxygen administration. These results suggest that KBAM is an effective alternative to potent opioids for helicopter-based capture of caribou, providing reasonably rapid induction and recovery while minimizing mortality risk.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.7589\/jwd-d-25-00174","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T08:55:10Z","timestamp":1783068910000},"page":"604-610","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["KETAMINE-BUTORPHANOL-AZAPERONE-MEDETOMIDINE FOR HELICOPTER CAPTURE OF FREE-RANGING CARIBOU (RANGIFER TARANDUS) IN ALASKA, USA"],"prefix":"10.7589","volume":"62","author":[{"given":"Annette","family":"Roug","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 1801 S Margaret Dr., Palmer, Alaska 99645, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aidan","family":"Hunter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Mile Post 1314, Center Street, Tok, Alaska 99780, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marie","family":"Jamison","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Mile Post 1314, Center Street, Tok, Alaska 99780, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gerrit","family":"van Diest","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 1801 S Margaret Dr., Palmer, Alaska 99645, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Torsten","family":"Bentzen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 1300 College Rd, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"4415","reference":[{"key":"1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"SE Allen, P Van Wick, AB Courtemanch, et al.  \"J Wildl Dis.\"  59, \"Butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine for chemical immobilization in free-ranging Shiras (Alces alces shirasi) moose: Ground and helicopter darting in Wyoming, USA.\" 359 (2023)","DOI":"10.7589\/JWD-D-22-00072"},{"key":"4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"S. Chinnadurai,  \"Zoo animal and wildlife immobilization and anesthesia.\"  \"Effective anesthetic monitoring.\" 91 (2025)","DOI":"10.1002\/9781119539278.ch3"},{"key":"5","unstructured":"J. Gross,  \"Fortymile caribou management report and plan, Game Management Units 20B, 20D, 20E, 20F, and 25C: Report period 1 July 2012\u201330 June 2017, and plan period 1 July 2017\u201330 June 2022. 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Williams,  \"Chemical immobilization of helicopter-captured elk (Cervus canadensis) and survival of elk calves in southeastern Kentucky.\"  168 (2023)"},{"key":"2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"JM Arnemo, AL Evans, AL Miller, et al.  \"J Wildl Dis.\"  47, \"Effective immobilizing doses of medetomidine-ketamine in free-ranging, wild Norwegian reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus).\" 755 (2011)","DOI":"10.7589\/0090-3558-47.3.755"},{"key":"20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"H. Wickham,  \"ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis.\"  260 (2016)","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-24277-4_9"}],"container-title":["Journal of Wildlife Diseases"],"original-title":[],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T20:43:00Z","timestamp":1791232980000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bioone.org\/journals\/journal-of-wildlife-diseases\/volume-62\/issue-3\/JWD-D-25-00174\/KETAMINE-BUTORPHANOL-AZAPERONE-MEDETOMIDINE-FOR-HELICOPTER-CAPTURE-OF-FREE-RANGING\/10.7589\/JWD-D-25-00174.full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7589\/jwd-d-25-00174","relation":{},"ISSN":["0090-3558","1943-3700"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0090-3558","type":"print"},{"value":"1943-3700","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]]}}}