Garijo_153Œ156.qxd INTRODUCTION The interest in the parasitoses of wildlife must be related both to the increase in the number of game reserves and to the potential transmission of these parasites to domestic animals. Most of the avail- able information is related to Artiodactyla, but little is known about that concerning giraffes (Round 1968; Pester & Laurence 1974; Boomker, Horak & De Vos 1986; Krecek, Boomker, Penzhorn & Schee- pers 1990; Fukomoto, Uchida, Ohbayashi, Ikebe & Sasano 1996). The study of animals that have died in accidents or from other causes provides useful opportunities for advancing the knowledge of the parasites of artiodactylids. This is of particular impor- tance in the case of the giraffe, a species which is considered to be significant in European zoos. This study provides data of parasites found in this spe- cies living in Spain and describes the presence of worms not usually found in giraffes. MATERIALS AND METHODS During November 2002, a 4-year-old pregnant (3rd month of gestation) female Cape giraffe (Giraffa ca- melopardalis giraffa) died from an unknown cause in the Aitana Zoo, Alicante, in the southeast of Spain. No clinical signs were observed. The feeding of the giraffes in the zoo is based on Quercus rotundifolia, Daphne gnidium and Pinus halepensis and lucerne is supplied in limited quantities. Both natural and arti- ficial water resources are available to all animals. 153 Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 70:153–156 (2004) RESEARCH COMMUNICATION Helminths in a giraffe (Giraffa ccamelopardalis ggiraffa) from a zoo in Spain M.M. GARIJO, J.M. ORTIZ and M.R. RUIZ DE IBÁÑEZ Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Murcia 30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain ABSTRACT GARIJO, M.M., ORTIZ, J.M. & RUIZ DE YBÁÑEZ, M.R. 2004. Helminths in a giraffe (Giraffa camelo- pardalis giraffa) from a zoo in Spain. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 71:153–156 A pregnant female Cape giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) died from an unknown cause in the Aitana Zoo, Alicante, Spain. Neither clinical signs nor macroscopic lesions were observed at necrop- sy. The alimentary tract was removed and examined for parasites. A total of 2 724 nematodes were found, including Camelostrongylus mentulatus, Trichostrongylus axei, Ostertagia ostertagi, Telador- sagia circumcincta, Teladorsagia trifurcata, Marshallagia marshalli, Trichostrongylus vitrinus, Tricho- strongylus colubriformis, Spiculopteragia asymmetrica and Trichuris giraffae. Only T. giraffae and C. mentulatus have been previously reported from giraffes. The other nematodes are common in mou- flons, fallow and red deer, which can usually be found in the same paddock as the giraffes in Aitana Zoo. Although its occurrence is unusual in this host, C. mentulatus was the most abundant nema- tode in our giraffe. This parasite has been related to disease, and even death, in several wild rumi- nants. Keywords: Gastrointestinal nematodes, Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa, helminths, Spain Accepted for publication 10 November 2003—Editor The dead animal was sent to the Veterinary Science Faculty, University of Murcia, where it was necrop- sied. No macroscopic lesions were observed. The animal was in good condition as adipose tissue was present around the small and large intestines and the kidneys. The alimentary tract was removed and examined for parasites according to the method described by Ortiz, Ruiz de Ybáñez, Garijo, Goyena, Espeso, Abaigar & Cano 2001. In brief, the aboma- sum, small and large intestines were processed separately by scraping the mucosal surfaces and washing the material so gained as well as the gut contents through a series of mesh screens, the final one of which had apertures 0.3 mm in size. The material remaining on the sieves was collected sep- arately and fixed in 10 % formalin. Each sample, divided into smaller portions, was examined under a stereoscopic microscope and the nematodes present were removed. Adult male para- sites were cleared in lactophenol for 48 h, and iden- tified with the aid of the keys of Skrjabin, Shikhoba- lova, Schulz, Popova, Boev & Delyaure (1961) and Durette-Desset (1983, 1989). Representative spec- imens of the nematodes recovered are deposited in the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Mur- cia’s parasite collection. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A total of 2 724 nematodes were found (1 158 males and 1 566 females). Ten nematode species were recovered and neither trematodes nor cestodes were found. The abomasum yielded a total of 1 109 helminths (593 females and 516 males). The study of the males gave the following distribution: Camelostrongylus mentulatus 284 Trichostrongylus axei 101 Ostertagia ostertagi 84 Teladorsagia circumcincta 35 Marshallagia marshalli 4 Trichostrongylus vitrinus 3 Spiculopteragia asymmetrica 3 Teladorsagia trifurcata 2 The small intestine harboured 1 601 nematodes, 967 females and 634 males, comprising 587 T. vitrinus and 47 Trichostrongylus colubriformis. Fourteen worms were found in the large intestine (six females and eight males). All those males were identified as Trichuris giraffae. Little information is available in the literature on the parasites of giraffes, and all refer to those recov- ered from animals living in National Parks. Krecek et al. (1990), in a study on six animals in the Etosha National Park, Namibia, recorded parasite loads ranging from 18 to 531. These numbers are much lower than those obtained in the present work. It should be mentioned that keeping the animals in paddocks, as the giraffe in this study was, makes re-infection easier. On the other hand, Boomker et al. (1986) recorded 2 621 and 19 157 helminths, respectively, in two giraffes in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, a much larger number than recorded for the animals from Etosha. Krecek et al. (1990) attributed these differences to the low rain- fall at Etosha National Park. Of the helminths recovered in our study only T. gi- raffae and C. mentulatus are reported as occurring in giraffe (Round 1968; Fukumoto et al. 1996). The remaining species are common nematodes in other ruminant species but constitute the first records for giraffe. Under natural conditions giraffes are exclusively browsers (Dorst & Dandelot 1972). However, the nematodes found in the giraffe in this study are con- sidered to be mainly those of grazers. The manner in which the animals are maintained in the zoo is probably the reason for this. The zoo can be con- sidered as a type of safari park as the animals are kept in very large paddocks. In addition, they can even change paddocks if they wish to do so. In this respect mouflons, Ovis musimon, are frequently found in the paddocks of other animal species. Re- stricting animals to game reserves and parks facili- tates infections between different animal species, and, in addition, many helminths of antelope are not very host specific (Boomker et al. 1986). Although the feeding habits of giraffes, in general, makes it difficult to acquire helminths of other rumi- nant species, Boomker et al. (1986) consider that they could acquire these when forced to graze. In the Aitana zoo lucerne is provided to the herbivores and is placed on the ground. This procedure could explain the presence of nematodes considered un- common in giraffes, but which are frequently seen in other species in the zoo such as mouflons, fallow deer, Dama dama and red deer, Cervus elaphus. Other gastrointestinal parasites previously recorded in giraffes, i.e. Moniezia expansa (Pester & Laurence 1974), hydatid cysts (Kelly, Boray & Dixon 1968; Krecek et al. 1990), Haemonchus mitchelli (Sachs et al. 1973; Krecek et al. 1990), Skrjabinema spp. (Krecek et al. 1990) or Parabronema skrjabini (Boomker et al. 1986; Krecek et al. 1990), were not found in the present study. 154 Helminths in a giraffe in Spain Camelostrongylus mentulatus was the most abun- dant nematode species in our giraffe. Its occurrence is unusual and it has only once been referred to in giraffe in Japan. As Fukomoto et al. (1996) sug- gested, the infection might have been present in other ruminant species kept in the same paddock of the zoo. Camelostrongylus mentulatus has been found in many domestic and wild ruminant species such as camels, Camelus dromedarius, llamas, Lama glama, and red deer (Averbeck, Scholtthauer & Hinueber 1981; Kock 1986; Flach & Sewell 1987; Alani & Yahay 1993; El Azazy 1995; Molina, Gutiér- rez, Rodríguez-Ponce, Viera & Hernández 1997; Rossi & Ferroglio 2001). No information is available concerning the patholo- gy of C. mentulatus infections in wild ruminants but disease caused by it has been described in sheep, camels, oryx, Oryx gazella, blackbuck, Antilope cer- vicapra, giraffe and Thompson’s gazelles, Gazella thomsoni. The cardinal sings were diarrhoea and weight loss. There is one report of C. mentulatus infection which might have had a fatal outcome: this was in a dorcas gazelle, Gazella dorcas neglecta, in which a severe abomasitis occurred when hypo- biotic larvae of the parasite emerged from mucosal nodules (Wisser, Tscherner & Jantschke 2001). 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Ver- handlungsberichte Erkrankungen Zootierie, 40:81–86. 156 Helminths in a giraffe in Spain