PDF《kafuensis) in the Kafue basin》

8146 Dept, NO-0033 Oslo, Norway Full list of author information is available at the end of the article Munyeme et al. BMC Research Notes 2010, 3:346 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/3/346 ?

2010 Munang'

andu et al;

licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. species of parasites infesting the Kafue lechwe [9,10], did not investigate on the impact of these parasites. In cattle parasitic infestations have been associated with consider- able weight loss, which in some cases have led to mor- talities depending on the severity of the infection [11]. In evaluating animal health conditions, body-condition is used as a proxy for evaluating the health status of wildlife within a habitat and is thus a useful tool for assessing the impact of diseases on wild species [12]. In the present study, we investigated the effect of the ecto and endo-parasites found in the Kafue basin on body condition of free ranging Kafue lechwe, as a way of examining the role of parasite infestation on reducing the Kafue lechwe population. Materials and methods Study area and animals The study was conducted in the Kafue basin (Figure 1). The Kafue basin covers an area of about 6,000 km2 , encompassing the Blue Lagoon National Park (420 km2 ), Lochinvar National Park (410 km2 ) and Kafue GMA (5,175 km2 ). This area supports grazing for cattle in the dry season resulting for active interaction between live- stock and wildlife. Samples were obtained from six Kafue lechwe herds occurring within game management areas (GMA) (Figure 1). GMAs are ecological buffer zones between communal lands and National Parks (NP) allowing for the co-existence of livestock [13,14]. Given the endangered status of the Kafue lechwe [4], only

40 animals (20 females and

20 males) were sacri- ficed by ZAWA for the purpose of parasite investiga- tions between October and December 2005. Ethical approval, under special license number 00113, was issued by the Zambia Wildlife Authority the sole custo- dians of wildlife in Zambia as stipulated in Section

37 of the Zambia Wildlife Act of the laws of the Republic of Zambia. Animals were aged using ring patterns on the horns as well as tooth development and wear [15,16]. Figure

1 Map of the Kafue basin showing the location of National Parks and Game Management Areas being partially covered by the wetlands. Black dots show the sampling sites. The insert shows the map of Zambia with A showing the study area. Munyeme et al. BMC Research Notes 2010, 3:346 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/3/346 Page

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5 Examination of carcasses was carried out as described by Gracey [17]. Body condition was graded using the kidney fat index (KFI) as described by Riney [18,19]. The amount of fat removed from the kidneys was weighed and divided by the total weight of the kidneys for each animal to get the index. Each carcass was allo- cated a score of

1 (poor: almost no fat);

2 (average: fair fat amount present);

or

3 (good: plentiful fat, completely obscuring the kidneys). Sample collection and examination All animals were eviscerated followed by visual inspec- tion and digital palpation of all body organs. Contents of the thoracic cavity were examined separately. Each component of the digestive system was processed sepa- rately with the contents from each segment being placed in separate bottles for laboratory examination. Schisto- soma matteii in the mesenteries were collected using forceps and counted at the sampling sites. The liver was incised and examined for the presence of flukes. Visceral contents from each organ were emptied into a bucket and the mucosa washed thoroughly in water with firm digital pressure. Quantification of the parasites was achieved by sieving and sedimentation following the method described by Taira et al [20], while egg counts of Schistosoma matteii were examined as described by Lawrence [21]. Cysts were excised from the heart muscles and evaginated from cyst membranes using methods described by Edgar [22] and Gonzalez et al [23]. They were later identified as cysticercus of Taenia saginata as described by Okafor [24] and Opara et al [25]. Statistical analysis All observations were recorded in Microsoft Excel and later transferred to STATA? V/SE