Comparative parasitological examination on sympatric equids in the Great Gobi “B” Strictly Protected Area, Mongolia

Abstract

The Przewalski's horse (Equus caballus przewalskii) became extinct in the wild during the 1960s. Based on a successful captive breeding program, Przewalski's horses were reintroduced to the Great Gobi Part "B" strictly protected area (SPA) in SW Mongolia in the late 1990s. The Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus hemionus), Przewalski's horse, and sometimes domestic horses live sympatricly in the Gobi B SPA. Previously published data demonstrates that, as a result of their different requirements and utilization of the park's resources, their home-range size and social structure differ. Parasitological examinations in the three equid species show how the factors "home range, social structure, and resource selection" significantly impact parasitic burden. Asiatic wild asses are potentially exposed to a higher risk of parasite re-infection due to their temporal aggregation in very large groups. This study demonstrates a highly significant greater parasite load in the Asiatic wild ass for the majority of parasites evaluated (Dictyocaulus arnfieldi, Trichostrongylus axei, Strongyloides westeri, Parascaris equorum) compared to Przewalski's horses and domestic horses in the same habitat. Domestic horses had higher parasite loads for eggs of strongylids, eggs of anoplocephalidae, and Eimeria leuckarti. The potential risk of cross infection between sympatric living equids is high, as is the cross infection between ruminants and equids. Furthermore, this study reports for the first time the occurrence of lungworms in free-ranging Przewalski's horses. Whereas, Asiatic wild asses and Przewalski's horses seem to cope very well with the sometimes high parasite burden, Mongolian domestic horses manifested typical parasite burden symptoms.

Gastrointestinal Parasite Community in a New Population of the Przewalski’s Horse (Equus Ferus Przewalskii) in the Orenburg State Reserve, Russia

“…Apparently, H. muscae is spread worldwide and infects domestic equids (horses, donkeys) in the Pre-Urals Steppe area, but data on habronematosis in horses inhabiting the Orenburg region have not been published. Other parasites such as Dictyocaulus arnfi eldi, Trichostrongylus axei and Strongyloides westeri registered in Przewalski's horses previously (Dvojnos and Kharchenko, 1994;Painer et al, 2011) were not found in our study. We suppose that these parasites were absent in the Le Villaret, France, where horses were kept initially.…”

“…Various parasitological studies of the wild Przewalski's horses kept in zoos, semi-reserves and natural reserves have been conducted in diff erent countries (Dvojnos, 1975;Dvojnos and Kharchenko, 1994;Epe et al, 2001;Elias et al, 2002;Slivinska and Dvojnos, 2006;Kuzmina et al, 2009;Painer et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2016). Most of these studies were carried out by coprological methods which determined the presence or absence of certain groups of intestinal parasites and calculating nominal levels of infection by the number of parasite eggs in one gram of feces (EPG).…”

Intestinal parasites in a population of stone marten (Martes foina) in central Spain

“…It does not allow specific determination without further genetic studies. These analyses are usually a standard procedure in the study of parasites because sampling is much simpler (it is not necessary to capture the specimen), the variety of parasitic species is sufficiently high, and relative specificity is low, and identification to genus is relatively simple (Painer et al, 2011;Pfukenyi et al, 2007). The species of coccidia are identified after sporulation (Levine, 1985).…”

Parasite load in the Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica victoriae

“…In 2014, we collected 40 faecal samples of an Iberian ibex population in the National Park of Sierra de Guadarrama. Collection of faecal samples is a common technique to analyze the parasite load (Pfukenyi et al, 2007;Painer et al, 2011). This analysis limits the collection of parasites to particular groups (related to the digestive tract) and generally, to certain phases (eggs or larvae) that use the digestive system as a means of dispersion of infective forms.…”

“…All samples were collected in autumn, when the parasite prevalence is highest (Pérez, 2001), and bagged and labelled. Faecal samples were collected in the morning, stored at temperatures < 20°C, and analyzed the same day (Painer et al, 2011).…”