Patterns of intestinal parasitism in the mountain gorilla Gorilla gorilla in the Bwindi‐Impenetrable Forest, Uganda

Abstract

The intestinal parasite fauna of the mountain gorillas of Bwindi—Impenetrable Forest, Uganda was studied by means of faecal examination and a single post‐mortem. The fauna was remarkably uniform between social groups and individuals, showing only slight differences between age groups; there is no evidence of any interaction between the parasites observed. The only protozoa were entodiniomorph ciliates; amoebae and flagellates were absent. Helminths included a single host‐specific cestode species and at least five nematodes, three of which are hostspecific. The closest relatives of the host‐specific parasites are found in ungulates and paenungulates, not in hosts phylogenetically related to the gorilla. This unique and specialized parasite fauna deserves to be monitored so that any effects of the habituation of the gorillas for tourism can be assessed.

Endoparasites of Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at Bai Hokou, Central African Republic

“…Abundance of entodiniomorph ciliates in the BH gorilla population was similar to the lowland gorillas at the Mondika Research Site, also in DNNP (Lilly et al, 2002), the lowland gorillas in Gabon (Landsoud-Soukate et al, 1995), and the mountain gorillas in Uganda (Ashford et al, 1996). Failure to detect these ciliates in the study of mountain gorillas of Rwanda (Sleeman et al, 2000) may be due to preparation methods.…”

“…Ashford et al (1996) found that strongyle eggs could be clustered into groups based on morphometric data but individual eggs could not be identified. The presence of both thick-and thin-shelled eggs in this study, combined with the wide range in egg measurements, indicates that multiple species are probably present at BH.…”

“…larvated eggs were identified in eight samples, the species could not be identified in the absence of adult worms. Ashford et al (1990Ashford et al ( , 1996 identified Strongyloides fuelleborni in the Bwindi mountain gorilla population and Sleeman et al (2000) suggested S. fuelleborni was in their mountain gorilla samples. Landsoud-Soukate et al (1995) were unable to identify the species of Strongyloides present in their lowland gorilla samples.…”

“…Anoplocephala gorillae is found in frequencies of 51-92% (Redmond, 1983;Ashford et al, 1990Ashford et al, , 1996Sleeman et al, 2000) depending on the season. Hastings et al (1992) also reported the presence of A. gorillae but did not report the prevalence of this parasite.…”

“…Sleeman et al (2000) examined 74 fecal samples from mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) in Rwanda. Ashford et al (1996) conducted a larger study (nϭ305) on mountain gorillas in Uganda and Hastings et al (1992) examined 128 samples from mountain gorillas in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Three coprologic studies of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) have been reported: Goussard et al (1983) examined 109 samples from Gabon; Landsoud-Soukate et al (1995) examined 61 samples, also from Gabon; and Lilly et al (2002) examined 156 samples from Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Central African Republic.…”