Vol. 7, Issue 3 (2019)

Ante-mortem examination of animals’ body surface revealed presence of two different arthropod parasites which were identified as the deer-ked belonging to the genus Lipoptena cervi and hard tick, Haemaphysalis bispinosa. Three different types of endoparasites were recovered at the post-mortem examination of animals. Examination of viscera revealed presence of few nematodes in the peritoneal cavity and they were found morphologically indistinguishable from Setaria digitata, a common mosquito borne filarial parasite of domestic cattle and buffaloes in India. There was presence of three bladder worms attached to the diaphragm and omentum and these were identified as Cysticercus tenuicollis, a long necked larval stage of tape worm Taenia hydatigena, commonly found in domestic dog and wild foxes. Rumen and reticulum were infested with snail borne Paramphistomum species of trematodes.

Update of information with present supplementation reveals that free living wild hog deer suffer from multiple parasitic infection similar to their captive counterpart. However, compared to captive animals, mortality due to parasitic infection is least reported