Parasitism and horn quality in male Spanish ibex (Capra pyrenaica hispanica) from Andalucía based on coprological analysis and muscle biopsy

Abstract

A parasitological survey was performed on 51 adult male Spanish ibexes (Capra pyrenaica hispanica) from Málaga (Andalucía, Southern Spain) which were legally hunted during rutting season (October to December) in 2002 and 2003, in order to determine the health status of the ibex populations. Animals were classified according to horn quality and geographic location and their respective parasite levels were compared. Gastrointestinal and pulmonary (family Protostrongylidae) nematodes (order Strongylida), intestinal cestodes (family Anoplocephalidae: Moniezia expansa and M. benedeni) and intestinal coccidia (Eimeria spp) were detected by coprological analysis, and muscle protozoa (Sarcocystis spp) by muscle biopsy. A parasitism index (PI) was calculated for each animal and parasite group. A horn index (HI) was designed that classified animals into four categories: HI1 (good), HI2 (normal), HI3 (poor) and HI4 (very poor). There was a negative correlation (R = 0.262; P = 0.062) between the PI of lungworms (Protostrongylidae) and HI, high lungworm PIs corresponded with lower HI values (better horn characteristics). Linear correlations between arcsine transformed parasite counts and one principal component analysis (PCA) of horn measures were calculated. There was a correlation (R = 0.30; P = 0.03) between lungworm larval shedding (Protostrongylidae) and PCA for horn quality. High larval counts corresponded with high PCA values (better horn quality). The possibility of rut stress affecting dominant males is proposed as a predisposing factor for the observed trend.