Wildlife Handling - Photo Highlights

Wildlife Handling Course
Photo Highlights
(Click on photos to view a larger image)


Class photo for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center Course, Oct. 20-24, 2003 at the Wildlife Science Center near Forest Lake, MN. Co-instructors (from left to right) are: 1) Michelle Williams, Course leader, NCTC (blue shirt far left), 2) Mark Johnson, Principle Course Instructor, Global Wildlife Resources (back row with cowboy hat), 3) Mark Beckel, Lab Instructor, (just right of Mark Johnson), and 4) Peggy Callahan, Co-instructor and Executive Director of the Wildlife Science Center.

Students practicing DanInject and Telinject systems during drug delivery lab.	Students practicing PneuDart systems during a drug delivery lab.
Co-instructor, Peggy Callahan, demonstrates the use of syringe poles and “Y” poles. Y poles are a valuable tool when working with canids. They humanely provide psychological as well as physical restraint to ensure that injection with the syringe pole will be successful. This is an essential tool for every animal shelter.

	Co-instructor Peggy Callahan is teaching steps in conducting a physical exam with a black bear. Note the headcover and groundcloth which are essential tools in wildlife chemical immobilization.

Under Dr. Johnson’s instruction (left), students are ready to learn physical restraint techniques with an anesthetized eastern red wolf. Each animal in these chemical immobilization labs at the Wildlife Science Center are chosen because they are also in need of their annual physical examinations and vaccinations. So in these labs, students assist with these required procedures as well as learning other techniques such as radio-collaring, body measurements and of course, monitoring temperature pulse and respiration.

	Course participants transporting a black bear using a groundcloth. The groundcloth is a valuable tool which also demonstrates very professional animal handling.

Students monitoring temperature, pulse and respiration with an anesthetized black bear for the chemical immobilization lab.

	Students transport anesthetized wolf from pen to the indoor processing area while Dr. Johnson (dark shirt) inspects wolf.

Student listens to airway with a stethoscope. Monitoring TPRs (temperature, pulse, and respiration) is crucial for safely anesthetizing wildlife.

	Student practices blood collection with an eastern red wolf under the instruction of Dr. Johnson (brown checkered shirt), Blood is collected as part of the animal’s annual physical examination.