Control of intractable animals: a cost effective method under field conditions

An attempt has been made to design and fabricate a dart syringe from commonly available materials. It involves three basic components viz, a dart syringe, an injection needle and a blow pipe. The syringe is made out of two 10 ml disposable Leur Lock syringes. The barrel of syringe A is cut just above its flange with the help of a serrated knife while the piston is still inside. The piston is then withdrawn to the maximum and cut flush with the barrel. This is the ready drug chamber. The barrel of the other syringe B is cut with the piston inside at the level of 3 mL mark. The piston from inside is now removed. A small piece of black rubber washer made from the plunger of a five mL syringe is placed inside the barrel of syringe B. The Leur Lock arrangement is cut off without damaging the syringe. This barrel portion is now ready for use as an air chamber. A metal coupler is now attached to the distal portion of the syringe A and sealed with an adhesive. The syringe B is then mounted on the other side of the coupler and sealed. After curing, the tightness of the assembly is checked. The injection needle is prepared from a 16 G x 4 cm hypodermic needle. The column of the needle is filed at a distance of 15 mm from its tip. The filed area is pierced with the help of a sharp instrument to make a hole in the column. The column around the hole is filed smooth. The tip of the needle is packed and sealed with solid glue like M-seal. A rubber sleeve, about 1 cm in length, of gasket of pressure cooker is slid on the needle tip so as to cover the side hole. The needle is sterilized by autoclaving. The dart needle is ready for use. A stabilizer for the syringe is made out of woollen threads tied together and mounted by passing through a small piece of Al sheath and tied firmly by suturing it to the sheath. To fill the desired amount of drug in chamber A, a three-way cannula is attached to the air chamber (syringe B). Air is then infused into the air chamber such that the piston in syringe A gets adjusted to the mL mark of required drug quantity. If the piston is already adjusted at near zero level, then it can be pushed to the desired drug level by a stillet. Now, the drug chamber is filled with the appropriate drug by infusing it with the help of another syringe. The dart needle is mounted on the syringe A. The rubber valve in syringe B is adjusted to cover the nozzle with the help of a steilet. To create air pressure in the air chamber, air is injected into the syringe B using a three-way cannula and a syringe so that the drug column in syringe A is pushed to the tip. The stabilizer prepared above is mounted on the nozzle of syringe B. A blow pipe is prepared to blow this syringe. This pipe is made up of PVC, aluminium or steel of 18 mm dia and 1.5 meters in length. It is preferred to use two small pieces of the pipe instead of one single piece from the point of portability. These pieces can be joined by a coupler. The usual distance for assured blowing is about 3–4 meters. This device has been successfully used on leopards, bulls and dogs with no untoward incident.