Prevalence and Management of Gastro-Intestinal Parasites in Captive Wild Carnivores

The present study was envisaged to record the prevalence of gastro-intestinal parasites in captive wild carnivores. A total of 31 faecal samples of different captive wild carnivores were screened, 14 were found positive for various helminth parasites, indicating 45.2% prevalence of gastro-intestinal parasites. The prevalence of nematodal infection was higher than cestodal infection. The highest prevalence was recorded in jackal and ratel (100%) followed by bear and hyaena (66.67%), lion (37.5%) and leopard (25%). Majority of captive wild carnivores had mixed infection of Toxocara sp. and Diphyllobothrium sp. Treatment of infected captive wild carnivores, with combination of fenbendazole, pyrantel pamoate and praziquantel was found highly effective as revealed by 100% reduction in eggs per gram on 7^th and 14^th day post treatment.