© Foto Akademie für Zoo- und Wildtierschutz e. V.

Endangered: The East Caucasian Ibex

They call them Daghestan Ture – these beautiful animals whose numbers in the Caucasus have severely declined since the 19th century. The reason for that is uncontrolled hunting. Kishinev in Moldova is one of the few zoos that keep this species. The zoo urgently asked for help to transfer these animals.

Contact to the zoo had been established through Dr. Miriam Wiesner from the Salzburg Zoo, after officials from the Kishinev Zoo approached her with a special request: Their eight ture were supposed to be taken to a new enclosure. In order for this to be accomplished, the animals had to be immobilised. For the zoo Kishinev this was a difficult endeavour since they have the equipment at their disposal, such as tranquilizer and blowpipes, but not the appropriate pharmaceuticals. Another challenge was how to anesthetize all eight animals as simultaneously as possible in order to avoid fights in the early stages of the narcotization.

Prof. Dr. Henning Wiesner and Dr. Miriam Wiesner travelled to Kishinev in January 2016 in order to transfer the ture and advise the zoo in veterinary and zoological questions.

The Academy donated the necessary pharmaceuticals and special devices for manufacturing blowpipe darts from single-use syringes on site. ■