Abstract
The present investigation was undertaken to study the parasitic infections in herbivores kept at Mahendra Choudhury Zoological Park, Chhatbir in Punjab, India. The occurrence and intensity of gastrointestinal parasitic load in 169 animals of 16 different herbivore species belonging to the families Cervidae, Bovidae, Hippopotamidae, Elephantidae, Rhinocerotidae and Equidae was determined by standard qualitative and quantitative parasitological techniques. The overall occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites based on 389 samples examined for helmithic eggs/oocysts of protozoa was found to be 25.71 per cent. The various parasitic eggs/oocyst detected were of strongyles, amphistomes, Trichuris spp. and Eimeria spp. The most commonly detected parasitic infection (89%) was of strongyles followed by Trichuris spp., Eimeria spp. and amphisotomes. Mixed infection was noticed in majority of the herbivores. The intensity of eggs of different parasites in various species of animals ranged from 50-4200 eggs per gram (epg). It was found that treatment of animals with appropriate drugs based on the species of parasites present in these animals was reported to be 100 per cent effective in majority of cases based on reduction in faecal egg count which reached zero by day three post treatment while in some groups it was reached by day five post treatment. No re-occurrence of parasitic infection was reported till day 55 post treatment.