Parasitological monitoring of European bison in the West Pomeranian voivodeship on the basis of coproscopical examination

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the level of parasitic infections in West Pomeranian European bison on the basis of coproscopic examinations. A total of 172 faecal samples of European bison from the Mirosławiec, Drawsko and Jałowcówka herds were examined by the flotation and sedimentation methods as well as the Baermann technique. Faecal examinations revealed the presence of gastrointestinal nematode eggs belonging to the family Trichostrongylidae and the genera Nematodirus, Aonchotheca, Trichuris and Strongyloides, eggs of tapeworms of the genus Moniezia, trematodes Fasciola hepatica and Paramphistomum cervi as well as larvae of the lungworm Dictyocaulus viviparus and seven species of coccidia of the genus Eimeria (E. bovis, E. pellita, E. zuernii, E. auburnensis, E. cylindrica, E. ellipsoidalis, and E. brasiliensis). The composition of parasite species in the population of European bison in the West Pomeranian voivodeship was similar to that observed in other free-living European bison populations in Poland.