Abstract:
Two adult Angora goats were slaughtered each month for 24 consecutive months on a farm in Valley Bushveld in the eastern Cape Province. On the same farm 2 Angora goat kids were slaughtered each month for 2 consecutive years from the time they were 1 week old until they reached 12 months of age. All these goats were processed for the recovery of helminth and arthropod parasites. Fourteen nematode species, 2 nematode genera and 1 cestode species were recovered. Worm burdens were generally low in the adult goats. Nematode burdens increased erratically in the kids reaching the greatest numbers when they were 1 year old. The tapeworm, Moniezia expansa, was present in kids at 3 or 4 months of age and had usually disappeared by the time they reached 7 months of age. The goats harboured 12 species of ixodid ticks, 1 louse species and the larvae of an oestrid fly. The seasonal abundances of 4 of the tick species were determined.
