Endoparasitism of carnivores kept at the Johannesburg Zoological Gardens

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the occurrence of intestinal parasites found in captive wild carnivores at the Johannesburg Zoological Gardens. Faecal samples were collected from the enclosures of 22 different carnivore species from the families Canidae (Canis adustus, Lycaon pictus, Vulpes zerda, Otocyon megalotis); Felidae (Acinonyx jubatus, Caracal caracal, Felis silvestris lybica, Leopardus wiedii, Leptailurus serval, Panthera leo, Panthera tigris altaica, Puma concolor, Uncia uncial); Hyaenidae (Hyaena hyaena); Mustelidae (Lutra maculicollis, Mellivora capensis); Procyonidae (Nasua nasua); Ursidae (Tremarctos ornatus, Ursus arctos, Ursus martimus) and Viverridae (Civettictis civetta, Genetta genetta). The samples were collected during routine cage cleaning. Faecal samples collected from 7 carnivore species, namely, cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), caracal (Caracal caracal), African wild cat (Felis silvestris lybica), small spotted genet (Genetta genetta), margay (Leopardus wiedii), honey badger (Mellivora capensis) and fennec fox (Vulpes zerda), tested positive for cysts of Giardia sp. All infections were clinically inapparent. Two strobilar stages of a tapeworm recovered from a cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) during necropsy at Johannesburg Zoological Gardens were identified as Hydatigera taeniaeformis.