Coprological study of gastrointestinal parasites of captive animals at Rangpur Recreational Garden and Zoo in Bangladesh
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3093.6142-7Abstract
A survey was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in different groups of mammals housed at Rangpur Recreational Garden and Zoo in Bangladesh. A total of 45 fecal samples of different animals (11 carnivores, 26 herbivores and 8 primates) were examined from April to September 2011 for the presence of gastrointestinal parasites. The overall prevalence of parasitic infection was 60% (27/45) of which 35.6% (16/45) were helminth infections and 24% (11/45) were protozoic infections. The identified parasites included protozoa (Balantidium coli and Coccidia sp.), nematodes (Toxascaris leonina, Toxocara cati, Strongyloides sp., Dictyocaulus sp., Trichuris sp. and stomach worm), cestodes (Spirometra sp. and Moniezia benedeni) and trematodes (Fasciola sp.). At least one parasite was identified in the fecal samples of all animals except of the samples from bear, python, water buck and olive baboon. Mixed infections were observed in Rhesus monkey (Trichuris sp. and Balantidium coli), in deer (Strongyloides sp. and Coccidia sp.) and in lion (Toxascaris leonina and Spirometra sp.). Helminth infections were more common than protozoic infections in carnivores and herbivores, whereas in primates, protozoic infections were more common than helminth infections. The high prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites found in zoo animals in this study emphasizes the importance of controlling these parasitic infections in order to safeguard the health of housed wild animals and of the humans working with these animals.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT. This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership. Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.
