Abstract
Free-living stages of ticks on a commercial game farm in the Thabazimbi District, Limpopo Province, South Africa, were collected by drag-sampling with flannel strips during the period September 2003 to August 2004. A total of 5 tick species was collected from 4 sites. Boophilus decoloratus was the most abundant species, followed by Amblyomma hebraeum. Seasonal abundance of the ticks was quantified and an optimum time to implement control measures against the ticks is proposed.
Highlights
Tick infestation is considered to be one of the main constraints for successful game ranching[6,7,13]
The animals are bred until the population reaches a predetermined stocking rate, whereafter they are sold to established commercial game farmers
The most effective control measures established during this study for the farm Hoopdal KQ96 can only be recommended for parasitic ticks and not for questing ticks on pastures
Summary
Tick infestation is considered to be one of the main constraints for successful game ranching[6,7,13]. Several blood parasites are transmitted by ticks and have been incriminated as the cause of diseases or death in various wildlife species[2,7,22]. Wild animals native to a specific area are seldom affected by the endemic tick-borne blood parasites, translocations of hosts and/or ticks into non-endemic areas can cause severe losses amongst susceptible animals[7]. Game farming for commercial purposes is replacing beef cattle ranching in several Bushveld regions of South Africa. On 1 such farm, Hoopdal KQ96, in the Thabazimbi district of Limpopo Province, roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus equinus) and African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) are intensively bred for commercial and biodiversity purposes. The animals are bred until the population reaches a predetermined stocking rate, whereafter they are sold to established commercial game farmers
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