Estudio parasitario en defecadores de vicuñas(Vicugna vicugna) en la Reserva de Producción de Fauna Chimborazo

Abstract

Feces from 199 vicuña´s dung piles were sampled, between November 2015 February 2016, at three zones of the RPFCh (Arenal, Sinche and Mechahuasca). Altitudes, areas of dung piles and ecosystems to which they belong were recorded. The objective of the work was to make an approximation to the parasitosis present in the animals. The presence and counting of Eimeria spp. oocysts, gastrointestinal helminths eggs and Fasciola spp. eggs. The 69,85% and 68,84% of dung piles presented Oocysts and gastrointestinal helminthes eggs, respectively; it was not evidenced the presence of Fasciola spp. The Arenal area had the lowest oocyst count (127,0 pgh), followed by Sinche (174,6 pgh) and Mechahuasca (323,7 pgh). In relation to the gastrointestinal helminths eggs, the Arenal area presented approximately 2,5 times less count than the Sinche and Mechahuasca. With regard to the ecosystem, the parasitic counts were higher in the upper montane humid grassland (HHMASP), and high upper montane and upper montane flooded grassland (HIMAP), the latter corresponding to those commonly known as “bofedales”. The highest counts of parasitic dissemination elements corresponded to both the zones and the ecosystems with the highest humidity, and no altitudinal effects were found. There was no effect on the interaction of either the zone or the ecosystem with dung piles´s areas (>4,5m2 and <4,5m2) on the Eimeria spp. oocyst and gastrointestinal helminths eggs counts.