Developing Safer Anesthesia for Hippos

The Nile, or common, hippo faces a high risk of extinction in the wild and is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. Because hippos and humans find the same habitat desirable, increased hippo-human conflicts have led to the need to relocate hippos. This requires sedation and chemical restraint of hippos that has historically resulted in relatively high mortality rates. There is currently a critical need for a safer anesthetic protocol for free-ranging hippos. This study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a new drug combination, medetomidine, butorphanol and midazolam, that may make it safer to anesthetize and relocate hippos.