Comparative study of the intestinal strongylid communities of equidae in the Askania-Nova biosphere reserve, Ukraine

Abstract

Comparative studies of the intestinal strongylid communities of 14 ponies, 6 donkeys and 9 zebras from the "Askania-Nova" Biosphere reserve (Ukraine) were carried out after deworming the hosts with aversectin drug. Faecal sampling (200 g each) was performed at 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 hours after treatment; all nematodes expelled were collected and identified. Thirty strongylid species from 12 genera were found; 7 species from the Strongylinae and 23 species from Cyathostominae. In ponies 27 species were found (range 8 -23; mean 14 ± 3.8). In donkeys 23 species were found (range 11 -15; mean 12 ± 1.3). Cyathostomum tetracanthum a species specific for donkeys was found for the first time in Ukraine. In zebras 17 species were found (range 2 -13; mean 7 ± 3.6). The results obtained confirmed the specificity of the intestinal strongylid fauna of different equid species grazing on the same pastures in the "Askania-Nova" reserve.

Parasitological survey of Polish primitive horses (Equus caballus gmelini Ant.): influence of age, sex and management strategies on the parasite community

“…In the analysis of species composition of the strongylid communities we found that ST horses harbored the lowest number of species of these nematodes (15), while the highest species biodiversity (30 or 31) was documented in FR horses. Our fi ndings correspond to the results of other authors who conducted similar studies in Poland (Kornas et al, 2006;Pilarczyk et al, 2010), as well as in other countries (Hoglund et al, 1997;Lind et al, 1999;Larsen et al, 2002;Kuzmina et al, 2007Kuzmina et al, , 2009Kuzmina et al, , 2011Kuzmina, 2012).…”

Strongylids (Nematoda: Strongylidae) in two zebra species from the “Askania-Nova” Biosphere Reserve, Ukraine: biodiversity and parasite community structure

“…The proportion of each species in the strongylid community of each host was calculated as the number of specimens of the particular species in relation to the total number of strongylids found. Comparison of biodiversity of strongylid communities in two zebra species was performed using previously published data collected from zebras and ponies at the "Askania-Nova" Biosphere Reserve (Zvegintsova & Treus, 1999;Kuzmina et al, 2007).…”

“…Ukraine (Zvegintsova & Treus, 1999; and original data) 28 --South Africa (Scialdo-Krecek, 1983;Krecek et al, 1987) Ponies from the "Askania-Nova" (Kuzmina et al, 2007) 27 22 0.8 177 Fig. 4.…”

“…The strongylid community of zebras from the "Askania-Nova" Reserve was similar to the community of ponies from this reserve ( Table 4). The Bray-Curtis cluster analysis of strongylid communities of plains zebras based on comparison of our data with data of other studies in African countries (Scialdo-Krecek, 1983;Krecek et al, 1987a, b;Matthee et al, 2004;Le Roux, 1932;Round, 1968) (Table 3) and with our data collected from domestic ponies from the "Askania-Nove" reserve (Kuzmina et al, 2007) also showed that plains zebras from the "Askania-Nova" Biosphere reserve lost their "original" fauna of strongylids. Their strongylid community was more similar to that of domestic ponies kept on the same pastures (Fig.…”

“…The frequency of animal deworming has been shown to break the species richness of the strongylid community as well as its structure (Bucknell et al, 1996;Kuzmina & Kharchenko, 2008). In addition, maintenance of different equid species on the same area, as occurs in natural reserves and zoos, facilitates the exchange of parasites and, undoubtedly, affects the development of their communities (Krecek et al, 1987a, b;Epe et al, 2001;Knafo, 2008;Kuzmina et al, 2009). From this point of view, examination of the strongylid communities of such "exotic" equids like zebras that co-mingle with other equid species in the "Askania-Nova" Biosphere Reserve is of particular interest for understanding the impact of various intrinsic and environmental factors on the parasite community.…”