Gyeonggi Fire Department Develops Compressed Gas-Powered Tranquilizer Gun for Animal Capture

Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters has developed a new concept anesthetic dart for animal capture. Photo by Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters has developed an animal capture tranquilizer gun using a compressed gas charging method instead of the conventional gunpowder.

On the 7th, the Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced that Fire Lieutenant Jeong Hee-su of the Fire Inspection Division developed the compressed gas charging type animal capture tranquilizer gun, which is currently being used at three fire stations including the Yongin Fire Station, where reports of capturing animals such as dogs, wild boars, and water deer are frequent.

The animal capture tranquilizer gun works by loading and firing a syringe projectile containing a tranquilizing drug.

The existing tranquilizer guns use a charger filled with gunpowder that explodes to fire the projectile, which posed problems such as safety accidents caused by explosions and shortened projectile lifespan due to gunpowder residue.

The newly developed compressed gas charging method fires the drug using compressed gas pressure, which not only prevents safety accidents but also extends the projectile lifespan and reduces the budget for purchasing gunpowder, thereby improving both safety and effectiveness.

Additionally, the direction of drug injection through the projectile's syringe needle has been improved from the front (anterior) direction to the side (lateral) direction. The front-direction projectile has a hole at the front of the needle, so if the projectile hits a bone or joint, the anesthetic can flow into the bone or joint, often causing side effects such as sequelae. The newly developed side-direction projectile has a separate hole at the rear of the needle, so even if the projectile hits a bone or joint, the drug is injected into the muscle layer, enhancing the safety and effectiveness of anesthesia.

Following the development of this new concept animal capture tranquilizer gun, the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters has distributed a total of 30 units to three fire stations in the province?Yongin Fire Station, Anseong Fire Station, and Paju Fire Station?where tranquilizer guns are frequently used for animal capture.

Cho Sun-ho, head of the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters, stated, "We plan to expand the distribution of the newly developed tranquilizer guns to other fire stations in the province to ensure safe animal capture," adding, "The technology has been transferred to private companies, so there is no issue with product distribution."