I was watching an animal program today and it reminded me of something I’ve wondered about many times. The darts that they use to knock out large animals prior to giving them vet. care seem rather nasty looking to me. What happens if an animal has just been darted and it falls over the wrong way and lands on the dart? Wouldn’t the needle get snapped off and rammed under the skin? Do the darts ever need to be surgically removed rather than just pulled out again?
While tranquilizer darts are less than lethal, it doesn’t mean they don’t kill. If the needle snapped off, the biologist wouldn’t preform surgery, they’d just let the animal go ( a zoo might though). Animals have strong immunize systems, and a small needle on it’s own probably would kill the animal. Saying that, animals also die from the stress of being tranquilized. The more stress you add to an animal the higher likelihood of dying. Moving, surgery etc
Zoos seldom use tranquilizer darts nowadays. Most large zoo animals are trained (to some degree) to perform husbandry behaviors, which reduce the need for sedation. (Hyenas, for example.) If sedation is required, animals are often conditioned beforehand to enter a crush or squeeze chute, where they can be injected safely.