The “Chemical Immobilization” or tranquilizing of any animal, especially exotics like White Tigers always have its risks. These risks are further compounded when the procedure is done in the field and on an already “Stressed” animal. As a result of this, David and I in association with our vets always scrutinize the necessity of tranquilizing the animals in our care. This careful scrutiny and the utilization of the most up to date “SPECIES SPECIFIC” tranquilizers insure the smoothest possible knock down with minimum stress to the animal.

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On this day, Dr. Kramer, met David and I out at the Sanctuary. He was already prepared with all of the necessary medical equipment, medications, and wound maintenance materials. Since Dave and I have been working hands on with Tundra everyday since she was 6 days old; we were able to enter her habitat, slowly and calmly walk up to her, calm & soothe her, and then gently give her a 6cc Intra-muscular injection. What is so remarkable about this is not that we are in her habitat with a cornered injured White Tiger, but the fact that we were able to significantly reduce her stress in the “Knock Down” phase. In most cases, large and dangerous animals are restrained in squeeze cages, and or darted with a rifle, blow gun or pole syringe. This entire procedure is the industry standard, and we utilize darting when we have to. It is just that these can add additional stress, especially to an animal that has already experienced these procedures in the past or is already wounded. Stress is one of the leading causes of illness and death in exotic wildlife in captivity and is always something one tries to reduce as much as possible in any veterinary procedure. Tundra was so relaxed, she had no clue I just administered the necessary drugs to allow us to fully examine her and care for any injuries. Once she was safely tranquilized, Dr. Kramer entered the WHITE TIGER habitat were Tundra was calmly asleep. He immediately gave Tundra a careful fast look over and started to shave a wide margin around each wound we found. Once all of her bites and claw marks were discovered and shaved, it became apparent that she was very lucky. She received about 4 small punctures with the worse one being on her neck and top of her head. Overall, she escaped with very little damage. Our biggest concerns are going to be infection and proper drainage of any accumulated fluids. Dr. Kramer then irrigated each wound and thoroughly scrubbed and disinfected them. None of her injuries required stitching. Each area was then covered with a topical antibiotic and silver cream. We then started her on injectable antibiotics that we administer every two days subQ. She seems to be recovering very well and is drinking and eating with her normal gusto.

The skin of a White Tiger as well as that of all of the five remaining species of tiger is actually striped and patterned just like its fur. Pay careful attention to the “PROCEDURE PICTURES”, as some of them revel this little known fact! Pay close attention to the pictures of the wounds that had the TIGER'S FUR shaved off. If you look very closely, you will see that the TIGERS SKIN is actually pigmented with dark stripes identical to the TIGER'S FUR PELT. Also, while you are checking out the procedure pictures, note that David and I are pouring alcohol over the TIGER'S PAWS. By doing this we help insure that Tundra will not over heat! The fast evaporation of the alcohol from her vascular paws help to drastically cool her large body down. Of course we did the entire procedure in the shade. This technique is just an extra precaution taught to us by Dr. Tim Tristan who has extensive large feline “Chemical Immobilization” experience. You will also note in many of these pictures that my hand seems stuck in Tundra’s groin. In actuality, I am putting pressure on her femoral artery, constantly monitoring her pulse and respiration while she is out.

Once the procedure was over and Tundra’s wounds were properly cared for, Dr. Kramer administered the reversal agent to awaken her. After about ten minutes, Tundra started to stir and awake. The procedure was a success and her shaved wounds now allow David and I to have a clear view of the status of each wounds healing. Remember, you can watch Tundra’s healing progress yourself via one of the Sanctuary’s 30 + “WEB CAMS”, placed inside the large naturalistic habitats of White Tigers, Bengal Tigers, Siberian Tigers, Golden Tigers, Black and White Ruffed Lemurs, Red Ruffed Lemurs, Ring Tail Lemurs and Brown Lemurs. Our goal is to create an interest in wildlife and its protection amongst our visitors. We hope that by providing intensive educational information combined with our world-renowned Animal Web Cams, will do just that!

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