SURGICAL INSERTION OF REMOTE MONITORING IMPLANTS

The surgical insertion of remote monitoring implants such as data loggers, telemeters/transmitters and acoustic tags is an important technique for monitoring threatened species during ecological surveys and reintroduction pro­grams (Coetsee et al.

Acoustic tags were surgically implanted into platy­puses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) to assess population dynamics using a procedure previously described for the platypus and echidna (Beard and Grigg 1999; Grigg and Beard 1999) but with significantly smaller transmit­ters (1.8 g in air and 1.0 g in water) (Bino et al. 2015; Bino et al. 2018). Tags (coated in a physiologically com­patible wax to minimise tissue reaction) were implanted into the peritoneal cavity via an 8-mm ventral midline incision. Minimal fur was clipped to reduce impact on waterproofing and insulation. A fenestrated sterile paper drape was secured to the fur with four drops of cyanoacrylate glue adjacent to the fenestration (Bino et al. 2018).

Koalas have been implanted with temperature-sensitive transmitters and data loggers to record body temperature (Adam et al. 2016). Temperature-sensitive wax-coated radiotransmitters combined with thermal data loggers were surgically implanted into the abdomens of four koalas. In three, the transmitters were inserted through 5-cm ventral midline laparotomy incisions and allowed to float freely within the abdominal cavity. In the fourth koala, a tethered implant was used and inserted through a 10-cm ventral midline incision with the implant sutured to the body wall ~4 cm lateral to the linea alba.

Internal temperature data loggers were used in south­ern hairy-nosed wombats to record body temperature (Descovich et al. 2017; see Chapter 37). Data loggers coated in paraffin and resin were surgically implanted laterally and caudal to the costal arch between the transverse abdominal and internal oblique abdominal muscles.

Intraperitoneal radiotrackers have been used in east­ern barred bandicoots (Perameles gunnii) (Coetsee et al. 2016). The 5-g single-stage radiotransmitters with anten­nae were encapsulated with dental acrylic, waterproofed with marine epoxy and gas sterilised. The transmitters were implanted through a 2-cm midline incision and allowed to float freely in the abdomen. These transmit­ters had a very short detection range of transmitters and data­loggers to record body temperature in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). Australian Veterinary Journal 94, 42-47. doi:10.1111/ avj.12393

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