For veterinarians in zoological gardens, putting their large patients under anesthesia is always a tricky undertaking.

Elephants, giraffes or wildebeests are not used to being held and must therefore be anesthetized from a safe distance.

In such situations, skill in handling the blowpipe or the anesthetic rifle is required - and the right anesthetic.

Rebecca Hahn

Freelance writer in the science of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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    The newly planned Veterinary Medicines Act, of all things, threatens to prevent the appropriate anesthetics from being available in German zoos. The draft law of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Federal Ministry of Health is expected to be discussed in the second and third readings in the Bundestag next week. If the Veterinary Medicines Act were passed as it is currently proposed, this would mean a conscious step backwards for animal welfare, criticizes the Association of Zoological Gardens (VdZ).

    Why is? Until now, the regulations on veterinary medicinal products in Germany were simply part of the general national pharmaceutical law. From the beginning of next year, however, a uniform veterinary medicinal product regulation will apply throughout the European Union, which is why the member states of the EU must now adapt their respective national legal frameworks. In Germany, therefore, the handling of medicines intended for animals is to be regulated in a separate law from now on, which supplements the European regulations. "With the new regulation, all national legal regulations on veterinary drugs are clearly summarized," says Silke Brandt, a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. This makes it easier for animal owners, veterinarians and authorities to apply the new regulations.

    Apparently the zoo veterinarians were completely overlooked. They are facing considerable difficulties because for a few years no more drugs have been allowed to be imported from countries outside the European Union. But with the wide range of animal species that live in German zoos, special preparations are always required. "With the new Veterinary Medicines Act, this situation should finally come to an end," says Jörg Junhold, VdZ President, Director of the Leipzig Zoo and himself a veterinarian. According to the current draft law, however, the import of pharmaceuticals from third countries would remain prohibited in the future. Among other things, many anesthetics for large wild animals are only produced outside the EU. "An estimated thirty percent of anesthetics would be affected," says Junhold.Elephants, for example, can only be put into deep sleep quickly and effectively with an active ingredient called etorphine, but this drug is made in South Africa.

    “Remnants of anesthetics are still circulating, with which the zoos also help each other out,” says Jörg Junhold. “But they will come to an end, and then in the future you would have to switch to a poorer anesthetic.” This could go hand in hand with considerable risks for the animal patients - and also for the zoo staff, who could suddenly stand next to large animals that are only half anesthetized. At the European level, the so-called therapy emergency will therefore be recognized from January 1st, according to which products from third countries may be used for drugs without alternatives from EU countries. However, according to the draft law, this exception regulation should not apply in Germany.

    But there is another problem for the zoos: According to the draft, some animal species in their care are considered to be potential food, such as bison, yaks or bison. They may therefore only be treated with preparations that are approved for use in livestock. Some zoo animals, which would never end up on anyone's plate anyway, are denied the best treatment for them. Aging diseases such as osteoarthritis, for example, which are more common in zoo animals due to their longer life, could then not be treated. For horses and rabbits there has long been an exemption with which their owners can classify them as "non-food deliveries". However, this option does not exist for rare animal species related to farm animals in the zoos.

    "We welcome the goal of uniform legislation within the EU," says Junhold. “But when it comes to zoos in a very specific way, certain things are not regulated that fall on our feet.” The BMEL rejects the criticism. When adapting the national pharmaceutical regulations, external expertise was included as usual, explains Silke Brandt. In the past few months, constructive consultations between the responsible departments and the veterinary associations, including the association of zoo veterinarians, had been held.

    Jörg Junhold experienced it differently. Despite statements and discussions with representatives in the responsible committees, people were repeatedly put off: “It's hard to bear for me. Everyone demands animal welfare, but now, when it comes to technical expertise, we are not heard. ”The representatives of the German zoos hope to make their voices heard. If not, they want to turn to the Federal Council again.