Distribution of endoparasitoses in bison in various regions of the Russian Federation

Abstract

The purpose of the research is studying the distribution of endoparasitoses in bison in various regions of the Russian Federation.Materials and methods. The endoparasite fauna in bison was studied in 2018–2020 in the FSBI Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Biosphere Reserve (Moscow Region), the Bison Nursery of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences of the Altai Republic, the Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve (Bryansk Region), the Ugra National Park (Kaluga Region), the Vologda Region, and at the Department of Parasitology and Veterinary and Sanitary Expertise of the Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology – K. I. Skryabin MVA. We studied feces collected from bison of different sex and age groups near feeders in the runs, and in reserves, nurseries and in the wild. A total of 320 samples were collected and examined including 237 samples from the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Biosphere Reserve, 15 samples from the Bison Nursery, 18 samples from the Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve, 29 samples from the Ugra National Park and 21 samples from wild bison from the Vologda Region. For helminth-coprological studies, we collected fresh feces of bison from the soil surface. The feces were examined according to generally accepted methods. The sequential washing technique was used to diagnose trematodiases, and the Kotelnikov-Khrenov and Fulleborn flotation methods were used to diagnose cestodoses, nematodoses and eimerioses.Results and discussion. The endoparasite fauna of the European bison was most diverse in the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Biosphere Reserve, where we identified the parasitizing of two species of trematodes, one genus of cestodes, one species and four genera of nematodes and one genus of protozoa. All these pathogens parasitize both as mono- and mixed infections. One species of trematodes, one genus of nematodes and one genus of protozoa have been identified in the Ugra National Park. One genus and two genera of nematodes were found in the Bison Nursery of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences of the Altai Republic and in the Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve, respectively. The dominant were gastrointestinal strongylatoses.