Abstract
BackgroundA huge effort in rhinoceros conservation has focused on poaching and habitat loss as factors leading to the dramatic declines in the endangered eastern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) and the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum). Nevertheless, the role disease and parasite infections play in the mortality of protected populations has largely received limited attention. Infections with piroplasmosis caused by Babesia bicornis and Theileria bicornis has been shown to be fatal especially in small and isolated populations in Tanzania and South Africa. However, the occurrence and epidemiology of these parasites in Kenyan rhinoceros is not known.ResultsUtilizing 18S rRNA gene as genetic marker to detect rhinoceros infection with Babesia and Theileria, we examined blood samples collected from seven rhinoceros populations consisting of 114 individuals of black and white rhinoceros. The goal was to determine the prevalence in Kenyan populations, and to assess the association of Babesia and Theileria infection with host species, age, sex, location, season and population mix (only black rhinoceros comparing to black and white rhinoceros populations). We did not detect any infection with Babesia in the sequenced samples, while the prevalence of T. bicornis in the Kenyan rhinoceros population was 49.12% (56/114). White rhinoceros had significantly higher prevalence of infection (66%) compared to black rhinoceros (43%). The infection of rhinoceros with Theileria was not associated with animal age, sex or location. The risk of infection with Theileria was not higher in mixed species populations compared to populations of pure black rhinoceros.ConclusionIn the rhinoceros studied, we did not detect the presence of Babesia bicornis, while Theileria bicornis was found to have a 49.12% prevalence with white rhinoceros showing a higher prevalence (66%) comparing with black rhinoceros (43%). Other factors such as age, sex, location, and population mix were not found to play a significant role.
Highlights
A huge effort in rhinoceros conservation has focused on poaching and habitat loss as factors leading to the dramatic declines in the endangered eastern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) and the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum)
The causal species were unknown until 10 years ago when Babesia bicornis and Theileria bicornis were independently associated with stress-induced mortality [8]
The prevalence of Theileria infection was higher in white rhinoceros (66%) than in black rhinoceros (43%) (Table 1)
Summary
A huge effort in rhinoceros conservation has focused on poaching and habitat loss as factors leading to the dramatic declines in the endangered eastern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) and the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum). The populations and distribution ranges of the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) and the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) have declined in the whole of Africa The rate of their population decline is faster than any other large terrestrial mammal in recent times [1], a fact that supports their endangered status and calls for robust international efforts towards their recovery. These rhinoceros have been exterminated in the Piroplasms, which are blood-borne protozoan parasites in the genera Babesia and Theileria (Order Piroplasmidae), are globally distributed and transmitted by a diverse species of Ixodid ticks. Effects of stress hormones are not predictable or homogenous in the population as underlying individuals’ conditions, such as injury, pregnancy, co-infection, vary and may elicit different immune response [10]
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