Rectal temperature was determined for 84 black bears (Ursus americanus) during 99 handlings in Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia and North Carolina (USA). All bears had been trapped with cable snares and immobilized with a 2:1 ketamine hydrochloride-xylazine hydrochloride mixture. Temperatures were significantly greater in males and varied significantly by season. Immobilized bears began panting at rectal temperatures >42.0 C. One death occurred at 43.0 C. We recommended cooling measures on black bears at rectal temperatures of ≥40.0 C.
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1 July 1989
Rectal Temperatures of Immobilized, Snare-trapped Black Bears in Great Dismal Swamp
Eric C. Hellgren,
Michael R. Vaughan

Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Vol. 25 • No. 3
July 1989
Vol. 25 • No. 3
July 1989
black bear
chemical immobilization
ketamine hydrochloride
rectal temperature
SNARE
Ursus americanus
xylazine hydrochloride