Use of intraperitoneal radio-transmitters in lynx Lynx lynx kittens:: anaesthesia, surgery and behaviour

The suitability of intraperitoneally implanted radio-transmitters as a method for studying young lynx Lynx lynx kittens was tested under field conditions. Radio-marked adult females were followed to the lair where they kept their kittens. In 1997 and 1998, nine kittens (4-5 weeks old) were located. One of two implant models (7 g and 20 g) were implanted using surgical procedures and a combination of medetomidine (0.08 mg/kg) and ketamine (5 mg/kg) for anaesthesia. No complications occurred during the operations. All kittens were accepted again by their mother and were moved to a new lair within 1 km. All survived at least three months after the operation. Six of the kittens were re-examined 4-5 months after the operation. In all of these cases the implants were floating freely in the peritoneal cavity. Based on these results it appears that intraperitoneal implanting of radio-transmitters is a very useful method for studying very young lynx kittens, and could be used for most felids of a similar, or larger, size.