24th February
by Dr Siva Ranjani
The day started at dawn, 6.30 am with an aromatic chai and coffee. The guys selected for the darting team practiced with tremendous effort, great excitement, and hope. After a quick breakfast, we headed to the reserve at 8 am. As today was a temple day, the movement of private vehicles inside the tiger reserve was quite high.
Sighting a group of animals was a little bit difficult today since it was a temple day. Participants were grouped into two teams and their roles were clearly explained. First, a young male chital was darted by the darting team and observed the animal for how the induction worked. After ensuring the status of the animal, a blindfold was done and the animal was shifted to a shady place. The weight of the animal was recorded first. The anaesthetic monitoring team meticulously monitored the animal and the sample collection team collected all possible samples. Dr. Amanda collected arterial blood and did a blood gas analysis.
A team of three did morphometric work and noted everything. After completion of all the necessary things to be done, it was decided to reverse the animal from anesthesia. The reversal agent was given and everybody was moved from the place. We observed the recovery, but the animal was normal after a little bit of struggle to wake up.
After refreshing ourselves with soft drinks and sweets, we moved to find another animal. A male sambar deer was darted by Dr. Purushotham Chilla. That was a perfect dart and the animal was sedated nicely. Once again, the same things were repeated by another team and the animal was recovered from anesthesia without any struggle which showed that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to wild animal restraint and anesthesia.
Dr Parag Nigam explained the precautions and safety considerations to be kept in mind during wild animal restraint and anesthesia. After returning from the field, they were arranged for a pool party. We enjoyed the swimming pool party; we had a nice lunch and took a rest for some time.
At 4 pm, again we headed off into the Sariska Tiger reserve for practicing a dart from a moving vehicle. Dr Parag Nigam drove the vehicle and we learned that the timely decision is more important than darting the animal. We played some quizzes in the field for some time and Dr. Anand won the battle. It was a rainy evening and we returned to the palace with the drizzles of Sariska.
Had a nice dinner and everyone was affected by exam fever. Started preparing for tomorrow’s exam (group study) in the corridor of the queen’s corner like school kids.
