Anesthetizing Iberian lynx for phlebotomy was deemed be too stressful (perhaps in part because they wanted the blood for pregnancy testing). So, they devised another technique:
Boj is sitting on a cork panel, calmly consuming the rabbit that was put out for her. The female lynx licks her whiskers enthusiastically.
Everything is going according to plan. Next door, in a blue-and-white building surrounded by pine trees, scientists and keepers, using cameras, monitor every movement and every lick of the chops in the enclosure. The critical moment is approaching when Boj, sleepy after eating her meal, will lie down on the cork panel for a little snooze. The animal will have to remain there for at least 30 minutes so that the insects hidden in the cork can do their work.
The researchers are using the parasites to obtain samples of the lynx's blood.
Der Spiegel has more about efforts to save the world's most endangered wild cat.
I wonder what the chances are that the parasites will end up staying on the lynx and end up killing or infecting it with something? This seems like a great idea but the kind that might have unintended consequences.
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