Chemical Capture Training for Zoo and
Wildlife Students and Professionals
The most current, extensive, and field-based chemical immobilization courses
Mark R. Johnson DVM, Instructor
Currently there are no live chemical capture courses.
Dr. Mark is now teaching courses online! Visit our Online Course webpage for links and more details.
When live courses resume – To be determined
- 2-day and 3-day courses are available
- Full coverage of field-based zoo and wildlife chemical immobilization
- Thoroughly addressing animal care such as body position, head cover, and patient monitoring
- Covers each aspect of animal processing such as ear tagging and sample collection
- Hands-on labs every day including dart gun practice, needle & syringe lab
- In 3-day courses, students will chemically immobilize live animals with the latest drug combinations
- We strive to empower every student, strengthen every professional, and help every animal
Each course provides 22 CE credits for the Wildlife Society Professional Development Program.
GWR courses are for:
Federal/State/Tribal/Private Wildlife Biologists
Watch a GWR Course in Action!
GWR Course at Wolf Haven International
Dr. Mark describes a GWR chemical capture course, animal care, and important ethical values.
KOMO News, Seattle WA
GWR Course in Oregon
This slideshow/video shows the classroom experience, dart gun lab, needle and syringe lab, and two goat labs. A powerful learning experience and we are all having fun!
GWR Hands-On Lab with Captive Wolves
Instructional video teaching the principles for collecting blood from wildlife filmed from one of GWR’s courses.
This is what our course attendees have to say…
Alex Strauch
Dr. Johnson always has time for student questions during his training courses which helped me nail down the details of chemical immobilization. There was ample hands-on experience and he really let us run our own chemical immobilization scenarios on the goats. This was a GREAT supplementation to my veterinary coursework.
Jegede Henry Olanrewaju
This brings a new perspective to animal handling as Dr Mark would say “physical restraint is not fight”. The Y-pole appears to be a great tool and would love to try it on my hyenas and jackals. The hands on training with the dart gun is priceless and learning the parts and uses so great. Thanks Dr Mark for the gifts but I would say the knowledge gotten is the greatest gift. BAM is a quite excellent drug with fast action and recovery on administration of reversal. I would work more with it before I give a recommendation but seems quite good. Special thanks to all Wolf Haven staff for their support-Bundle of experience there and great job you’re doing with the wolves. The experience gotten will definitely be used more frequently as expected and hope to learn more.
Taylor Parker
Dr. Johnson is an incredible person and superb professional and educator. I learned so much through his course and am a better professional myself because of his training.
Adam Sprott
Dr. Mark’s inspiring approach to animal welfare is exemplified throughout each of his lectures and hands-on exercises. In addition to his profound focus on animal care and professional development, his course provides the experience and confidence to succeed in all manner of wildlife work.
Sarah Eno
I just completed Dr. Mark’s training at Wolf Haven, in Tenino,WA. Dr. Mark, Elizabeth, and Wolf Haven delivered and hosted an excellent, comprehensive wildlife capture and chemical immobilization training. We learned from a great balance of lecture and labs. We had a diverse and engaged group of students, adding to the experience. This is a superior quality course and I highly recommend it!
