GASTROINTESTINAL PARASITES OF BIRDS IN ZOOLOGICAL GARDENOF UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN

Adeola, Ajibola; Akande, Olalekan; Adeniji, Oluwafemi; Onihunwa, John; Olaifa, Oladayo; Joshua, Deji

doi:10.21608/ejap.2022.151808.1045

	GASTROINTESTINAL PARASITES OF BIRDS IN ZOOLOGICAL GARDENOF UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN
Egyptian Journal of Animal Production
Article 5, Volume 59, Issue 3, November 2022, Page 131-135 PDF (780.39 K)
Document Type: Original Article
DOI: 10.21608/ejap.2022.151808.1045
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Authors
Ajibola Adeola ¹; Olalekan Akande²; Oluwafemi Adeniji¹; John Onihunwa¹; Oladayo Olaifa¹; Deji Joshua¹
¹Federal College of Wildlife Management, New-bussa Niger state, Nigeria
²Department of Zoology, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Nigeria
Abstract
Infection with gastrointestinal parasites is a major health issue in captive birds; prevalence data of gastrointestinal parasites of birds in Zoological gardens in Nigeria are limited. This study was carried out to determine the gastrointestinal parasite kept at University of Ilorin Zoological garden. A total of 21 fecal samples from 9 birds were examined using fecal sedimentation technique. The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites was found to be 71.4%, with the highest prevalence of infection recorded in Ostrich, Crowned crane and African fish eagle (100% each), followed by domestic pigeon and White-faced whistling duck. While Marabou stock, White peafowl and Emu were the least with 50.0% each. The distribution of gastrointestinal parasites in the study area revealed a total of four species of parasites which includes two protozoans (Coccidian and Eimeria spp.) and two nematodes (Capillariaspp and Ascaris spp.) The intensity of gastrointestinal parasites of birds in the study area revealed that Ascaridiagalli recorded the highest intensity of 358 epg, followed by Capillariaspp with 104 epg while Eimeriaoocysts recorded the least intensity of 70 epg. The study concludes that the birds at the University of Ilorin Zoological garden harbor parasites which are of great importance to their health and also that of the staff and visitors in the zoo because most of the fecal samples examined did not show any obvious clinical signs.
Keywords
Keyword: Parasite; Birds; Gastrointestinal; Zoological garden


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