Arthropod burdens of impalas in the Skukuza region during two droughts in the Kruger National Park

Abstract

Ixodid ticks and lice were collected at monthly intervals from March 1980 to February 1981 from impalas of all ages and both sexes in Landscape Zone 4 (Thickets of the Sabie and Crocodile Rivers) in the south-west of the Kruger National Park. Similar collections were made from adult animals in extremis in the same landscape zone during October and November of the drought of 1982 as well as from 15 to 22-month-old male impalas examined at monthly intervals from March to October of the drought of 1992. The louse burdens of the adult animals examined during the 1982 drought were significantly greater than those of adult animals examined during the same months of 1980, a year of normal rainfall. The tick burdens were also larger, but not significantly so. The tick and louse burdens of the young impalas examined during the drought of 1992 were significantly smaller than those of animals of the same age examined during 1980.