Tranquilliser gun
Encyclopedia
A tranquilliser gun capture gun, or dart gun, is a non-lethal gun used for capture via a special chemical. Tranquilliser guns shoot darts filled with tranquilliser
that, when injected, temporarily sedate an animal or human, so that it may be handled (or captured) safely. The tranquilliser can be a sedative
, anaesthetic
, or paralytic agent
. Tranquilliser guns have a long history of use for capturing wildlife without injury. Tranquilliser darts can also be fired by crossbow
or breath-powered blowgun
.
), to incapacitate animals before killing them, the modern tranquilliser gun was invented only in the 1950s by New Zealand
er Colin Murdoch
. While working with colleagues who were studying introduced wild goat and deer populations in New Zealand, Murdoch had the idea that the animals would be much easier to catch, examine, and release if a dose of tranquilliser could be administered by projection from afar. Murdoch went on to develop a range of rifles, darts, and pistols that have had an enormous impact on the treatment and study of animals around the world.
In Kenya
in the early 1960s, a team headed by Dr. Tony Pooley
and Dr. Toni Harthoorn discovered that various species, despite being of roughly equal size (for example, the rhinoceros
and the buffalo
), needed very different doses and spectra of drugs to safely immobilise them.
loaded with an immobilising drug and hypodermic needle
, is propelled from the gun by means of compressed gas. In flight, the dart is stabilised by a tailpiece, a tuft of fibrous material, making it behave somewhat like a badminton shuttlecock
. By substituting a different tailpiece, the same syringe design may be used interchangeably in airguns and blowgun
s. The needle may be plain, or collared; a collared needle has a barb-like circumferential ring that improves retention of the needle and syringe for recovery and to assure that the full dose is administered.
On impact with the animal, the momentum of a steel ball at the rear of the dart pushes the syringe plunger and injects
the dose of barbiturate
or other drug into the animal. The drug causes torpor
and prostration
within minutes. Because of the power of the drugs, the handlers then have to move quickly to secure the animal for transport, monitor its vital signs, protect its eyes and ears, and then inject antidote
s when needed. Many large animals are acutely sensitive to stress and can easily die without careful treatment; in order to counter stress in targeted animals, the gun is quiet, and there is usually a valve on the gun to control the dart velocity.
These substances have been invented for animal injection only. Humans are far more affected by the drugs, as they trigger respiratory problems. The injection or consumption of only a drop of M–99 is sufficient to kill an adult man within a few minutes if the correct antidote treatment is not administered immediately. Therefore, instead of the substances found above, only incapacitating agent
s would be suitable for military or police use.
or an overdose. This means that effective use requires an estimate of the weight of the target to be able to determine how many darts (if any) can be used. Shooting too few would result in no effect whatsoever, while too many can kill the target
Tranquilizer
A tranquilizer, or tranquilliser , is a drug that induces tranquility in an individual.The term "tranquilizer" is imprecise, and is usually qualified, or replaced with more precise terms:...
that, when injected, temporarily sedate an animal or human, so that it may be handled (or captured) safely. The tranquilliser can be a sedative
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....
, anaesthetic
General anaesthetic
A general anaesthetic is a drug that brings about a reversible loss of consciousness. These drugs are generally administered by an anaesthesia provider to induce or maintain general anaesthesia to facilitate surgery...
, or paralytic agent
Neuromuscular-blocking drug
Neuromuscular-blocking drugs block neuromuscular transmission at the neuromuscular junction, causing paralysis of the affected skeletal muscles. This is accomplished either by acting presynaptically via the inhibition of acetylcholine synthesis or release or by acting postsynaptically at the...
. Tranquilliser guns have a long history of use for capturing wildlife without injury. Tranquilliser darts can also be fired by crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
or breath-powered blowgun
Blowgun
"Blowpipe" and "blow tube" redirect here. For other uses of the terms, see GlassblowingA blowgun is a simple weapon consisting of a small tube for firing light projectiles, or darts....
.
History
While for thousands of years various tribal peoples have used poisoned arrows, (for example tipped with CurareCurare
Curare is a common name for various arrow poisons originating from South America. The three main types of curare are:* tubocurare...
), to incapacitate animals before killing them, the modern tranquilliser gun was invented only in the 1950s by New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
er Colin Murdoch
Colin Murdoch
Colin Albert Murdoch MNZM was a New Zealand pharmacist and veterinarian who made a number of significant inventions, in particular the tranquilliser gun, the disposable hypodermic syringe and the child-proof medicine container...
. While working with colleagues who were studying introduced wild goat and deer populations in New Zealand, Murdoch had the idea that the animals would be much easier to catch, examine, and release if a dose of tranquilliser could be administered by projection from afar. Murdoch went on to develop a range of rifles, darts, and pistols that have had an enormous impact on the treatment and study of animals around the world.
In Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
in the early 1960s, a team headed by Dr. Tony Pooley
Tony Pooley
Tony Charles Pooley was a South African naturalist, award-winning conservationist and one of the world's foremost authorities on the Nile crocodile.Born in Amanzimtoti, KwaZulu-Natal, Pooley was a keen ornithologist as a youth...
and Dr. Toni Harthoorn discovered that various species, despite being of roughly equal size (for example, the rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
and the buffalo
African Buffalo
The African buffalo, affalo, nyati, Mbogo or Cape buffalo is a large African bovine. It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild Asian water buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear...
), needed very different doses and spectra of drugs to safely immobilise them.
Characteristics
The dart, essentially a ballistic syringeSyringe
A syringe is a simple pump consisting of a plunger that fits tightly in a tube. The plunger can be pulled and pushed along inside a cylindrical tube , allowing the syringe to take in and expel a liquid or gas through an orifice at the open end of the tube...
loaded with an immobilising drug and hypodermic needle
Hypodermic needle
A hypodermic needle is a hollow needle commonly used with a syringe to inject substances into the body or extract fluids from it...
, is propelled from the gun by means of compressed gas. In flight, the dart is stabilised by a tailpiece, a tuft of fibrous material, making it behave somewhat like a badminton shuttlecock
Shuttlecock
A shuttlecock, sometimes called a bird or birdie, is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. It has an open conical shape: the cone is formed from sixteen or so overlapping feathers, usually goose or duck and from the left wing only, embedded into a rounded cork base...
. By substituting a different tailpiece, the same syringe design may be used interchangeably in airguns and blowgun
Blowgun
"Blowpipe" and "blow tube" redirect here. For other uses of the terms, see GlassblowingA blowgun is a simple weapon consisting of a small tube for firing light projectiles, or darts....
s. The needle may be plain, or collared; a collared needle has a barb-like circumferential ring that improves retention of the needle and syringe for recovery and to assure that the full dose is administered.
On impact with the animal, the momentum of a steel ball at the rear of the dart pushes the syringe plunger and injects
Injection (medicine)
An injection is an infusion method of putting fluid into the body, usually with a hollow needle and a syringe which is pierced through the skin to a sufficient depth for the material to be forced into the body...
the dose of barbiturate
Barbiturate
Barbiturates are drugs that act as central nervous system depressants, and can therefore produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to total anesthesia. They are also effective as anxiolytics, as hypnotics, and as anticonvulsants...
or other drug into the animal. The drug causes torpor
Torpor
Torpor, sometimes called temporary hibernation is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually characterized by a reduced body temperature and rate of metabolism. Animals that go through torpor include birds and some mammals such as mice and bats...
and prostration
Prostration
Prostration is the placement of the body in a reverentially or submissively prone position. Major world religions employ prostration either as a means of embodying reverence for a noble person, persons or doctrine, or as an act of submissiveness to a supreme being or beings...
within minutes. Because of the power of the drugs, the handlers then have to move quickly to secure the animal for transport, monitor its vital signs, protect its eyes and ears, and then inject antidote
Antidote
An antidote is a substance which can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek αντιδιδοναι antididonai, "given against"....
s when needed. Many large animals are acutely sensitive to stress and can easily die without careful treatment; in order to counter stress in targeted animals, the gun is quiet, and there is usually a valve on the gun to control the dart velocity.
Tranquilliser agents
Several immobilising drugs have been invented for use in tranquilliser darts. These include:
|
Etorphine Etorphine is a semi-synthetic opioid possessing an analgesic potency approximately 200 times that of morphine. It was first prepared in 1960 from oripavine, which does not generally occur in opium poppy extract but rather in "poppy straw" and in related plants, Papaver orientale and Papaver... hydrochloride (M–99, Novartis Novartis Novartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry... ) Haloperidol Haloperidol is a typical antipsychotic. It is in the butyrophenone class of antipsychotic medications and has pharmacological effects similar to the phenothiazines.... (Kyron Laboratory) Xylazine Xylazine is a drug that is used for sedation, anesthesia, muscle relaxation, and analgesia in animals such as horses, cattle and other non-human mammals. An analogue of clonidine, it is an agonist at the α2 class of adrenergic receptor.... (Rompun, Bayer) |
These substances have been invented for animal injection only. Humans are far more affected by the drugs, as they trigger respiratory problems. The injection or consumption of only a drop of M–99 is sufficient to kill an adult man within a few minutes if the correct antidote treatment is not administered immediately. Therefore, instead of the substances found above, only incapacitating agent
Incapacitating agent
The term incapacitating agent is defined by the U.S. Department of Defense asLethal agents are primarily intended to kill, but incapacitating agents can also kill if administered in a potent enough dose, or in certain scenarios....
s would be suitable for military or police use.
Military and police use
Tranquilliser darts are not generally included in military or police less-than-lethal arsenals because no drug is yet known that would be quickly and reliably effective on humans without the risks of side effectsAdverse effect
In medicine, an adverse effect is a harmful and undesired effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as surgery.An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. If it results from an unsuitable or incorrect dosage or...
or an overdose. This means that effective use requires an estimate of the weight of the target to be able to determine how many darts (if any) can be used. Shooting too few would result in no effect whatsoever, while too many can kill the target
Examples
Some examples of dart guns include:- Daninject Projector Rifles
- Daninject Projector Pistols
- Daninject Close Range Blowpipes
- Paxarms Mark 24B dart gun
- Pneu-Dart equipment Model 190B Air Activated Pistol
- Pneu-Dart equipment Model 179B CO2 Pistol
- Pneu-Dart equipment Model 178 Air Activated Rifle
- Pneu-Dart equipment X-Caliber
- Pneu-Dart equipment Model 176B CO2 Powered Rifle
- Daystate Tranquilliser and Airgun Manufacturers Equipment Mark1 dart gun
- Daystate Tranquilliser and Airgun Manufacturers Equipment Ranger dart gun
- Palmer Cap-Chur Short Range Projector
- Palmer Cap-Chur Mid Range Projector
- Palmer Cap-Chur Long Range Projector
- Palmer Cap-Chur Extra Long Range Projector
- Telinject Projectors
- Teledart Projectors