Ixodid tick diversity on wild mammals, birds and reptiles in and around Etosha National Park, Namibia

Abstract

There have been several surveys of the tick species that infest wildlife and domestic animals in various regions of Namibia. Horak et al. (1983) collected ticks from warthogs, Horak et al. (1984) from mountain zebras and horses, Brain and Bohrmann (1992) examined baboons, Horak et al. (1992) sampled plains and mountain zebras, giraffes, kudus, gemsbok and springbok, Fourie et al. (2005) collected ticks from elephant shrews, Horak et al. (2010) examined cheetahs, lions and a leopard, and Pascucci et al. (2011) sampled African buffaloes. Biggs and Langenhoven (1984) and Nyangiwe et al. (2013) examined cattle and Matthee et al. (2010) dogs. A total of 19 species of ixodid ticks were collected in these surveys, many of which infest both wild and domestic species. The last tick survey in Etosha National Park (ENP) was conducted in the mid-1980s, and seven species of mammalian herbivores were examined, with seven tick species recovered (Horak et al., 1992). In the present follow-up study, conducted from 2008-2010, we opportunistically sampled wild mammals, birds and reptiles in and around ENP, Namibia, to determine the ticks present in the area and their host-parasite associations.