Remote biopsy darting and marking of polar bears

摘要: Remote biopsy darting of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) is less invasive and time intensive than physical capture therefore useful when challenging or unsafe. We worked with two manufacturers to develop a combination marking dart for use on bears. had an 80% success rate collecting tissue sample single collected samples from 143 land, in water, sea ice. Dye marks ensured that 96% the were not resampled during same sampling period, we recovered darts fired. Biopsy heads 5 mm diameters average 0.12 g fur, tissue, subcutaneous adipose while 7 mm 0.32 g. Tissue 99.3% successful (142 samples) providing genetic sex identification individuals. 64% successfully examined fatty acid signatures all samples. Adipose lipid content values lower compared immobilized harvested bears, indicating our method was suitable quantifying content.