Implementation of Biological Control to the Integrated Control of Strongyle Infection among Wild Captive Equids in a Zoological Park

A M Palomero,Adolfo Paz-Silva,Fabián Arroyo Balán,R Sánchez-Andrade,María Sol Arias Vázquez,C F Cazapal-Monteiro,M I Silva,J A Hernández

doi:10.1155/2018/4267683

A M Palomero, Adolfo Paz-Silva + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4267683

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Abstract

The integrated control of strongyles was assayed for a period of three years in wild equids (zebras, European donkeys, and African wild asses) captive in a zoo and infected by strongyles. During three years control of parasites consisted of deworming with ivermectin + praziquantel; equids also received every two days commercial nutritional pellets containing a blend of 104 - 105 spores of the fungi Mucor circinelloides + Duddingtonia flagrans per kg meal. Coprological analyses were done monthly to establish the counts of eggs of strongyles per gram of feces (EPG). The reductions in the fecal egg counts (FECR) and in the positive horses (PHR) were calculated fifteen days after deworming; the egg reappearance period (ERP) and the time elapsed from the previous deworming (TPD) were also recorded. Four anthelmintic treatments were administered during the assay, three times throughout the first 2 yrs, and another treatment during the last one. FECR values of 96-100% and 75-100% for the PHR were recorded. The ERP oscillated between eight and twenty-eight weeks, and the TPD ranged from four to eighteen months, increasing to the end of the trial. No side effects were observed in any of the equids. It is concluded that integrated control of strongyles among equids captive in a zoo can be developed by anthelmintic deworming together with the administration of pellets manufactured with spores of parasiticide fungi every two days.

Highlights

Wild animals captive in zoological parks are frequently confined to the same area, which enhances that elevated concentrations of parasites are attained in the ground [1]
Another inconvenience relies on that confinement of wild animals in the same parcel enhances the risk of exposure to infective stages of several parasites; frequent deworming can be needed, in a similar way to that reported in domestic animal species [13]
The current trial was conducted in the Marcelle Natureza Zoological Park (Outeiro de Rei, Lugo, NW Spain; 43∘4󸀠14.71󸀠󸀠 N, 7∘37󸀠53.50󸀠󸀠 W), where wild animals are kept in an area of approximately 20-ha

Summary

Introduction

Wild animals captive in zoological parks are frequently confined to the same area, which enhances that elevated concentrations of parasites are attained in the ground [1]. This problem worsens due to stress, living conditions, and/or limitations of space increasing susceptibility of animals to some parasitic infections [2, 3]. Analyses for establishing the presence of parasitic infection are rarely asked before the deworming, and the evaluation of the successful is seldom considered Another inconvenience relies on that confinement of wild animals in the same parcel enhances the risk of exposure to infective stages of several parasites; frequent deworming can be needed, in a similar way to that reported in domestic animal species [13]

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