Animal Ark toxicology results positive for barbiturate

Animal Ark wildlife experts continue to probe the death of a wolf and tiger after receiving toxicology results, which showed traces of two drugs used to euthanize animals and control seizures, on Wednesday morning.

Officials received lab results from the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System, which came back positive for pentobarbital and phenytoin.

Both are considered barbiturates, a type of depressant drug that causes relaxation and sleepiness, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

"You would find (pentobarbital) solutions in euthanizing drugs used to put an animal down," spokeswoman Jen Eastwood of Bauserman Group said Wednesday.

Phenytoin is an anti-convulsing drug used to treat seizures, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

On Feb. 6, Animal Ark officials found Shere Khan, a 21½-year-old Asian tiger, showing signs of a stroke.

"He had been completely normal the day prior," officials said in an earlier statement.

The tiger, which was experiencing age-related health concerns, was euthanized.

"At that point, they didn't have any reason to believe there were any drugs in his system," Eastwood said. "His health was starting to decline and so he was euthanized."

That means that if a toxicology test was done on him, it would still come back positive. There was no way to tell if he was drugged, Eastwood said.

The next day, Maddie, a 3-year-old wolf, was found dead.

"Like Shere Khan, Maddie had been completely normal the day prior," officials said in a statement. "Animal Ark quickly arranged for a necropsy and conducted a check of the rest of the animals."

That's when staff found Jamar, a 9-year-old cheetah, comatose in his den box. A local veterinarian was called, who immediately began emergency treatment and administered fluids.

Staff had raised Jamar's body temperature by wrapping him in blankets and placing him on a wood stove.

"That was Chrysann Collatos, the vet, she saved his life," Animal Ark staff member Jan Alaksa said. "She administered fluids and got him warm and the staff stayed with him for over three days straight.

"She did speculate that if it was a ... barbiturate solution in his body, that once he passed it out he would be fine, and she was correct," Alaksa said.

"Jamar is right behind me now acting like a cheetah should act," she said as she motioned to him laying nearby in his enclosure. "He's pooping, he's playing, he's got a good appetite and he looks gorgeous.

"So Jamar is truly a nice miracle that came out of this tragic situation."

After finding that drug overdose was likely, staff tested Jamar's urine with an at-home drug kit purchased from a local Walgreens store and found barbiturates, officials said in earlier reports.

Both pentobarbital and phenytoin were found in Maddie's stomach and in Jamar's urine, Eastwood said. But tests on the animals' food and water were negative, she said.

The drugs weren't kept on-site at the wildlife sanctuary, Eastwood said.

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