Necropsy Procedure Demonstrated

The Wildlife and Fisheries Techniques class at Dakota College at Bottineau welcomed Charlie Bahnson, Wildlife Veterinarian, from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department this week. Charlie performed a necropsy on a female beaver and a cow elk in the classroom allowing the students to observe and network.

In the Wildlife and Fisheries Techniques class students learn different ways to study wildlife and their habitats. Most of the students enrolled in the class are pursuing careers in the wildlife field and the techniques class shows methods they will use in a career. Necropsy is an examination of an animal after death, basically an autopsy of an animal. The necropsy provides better knowledge of why an animal died and can provide information about what the animal did while it was alive. The main focus of the necropsy was to provide students with an experience in a technique used in the field. Students were exposed to different organs of the body, parts of the skeleton, and even what the animals last ate.

This provided students an enhanced learning environment by observing an actual animal used in the procedure performed up close. Many students learn better with a hands-on component in addition to reading from a textbook and class lecture. Jonathan Tofteland, Wildlife and Fisheries Instructor shares from experience, “As an alumnus of the wildlife program, one of the best parts were the labs and learning hands on and up close. I want to pass the same experience onto the next generation of students”.