Journal of Bacteriology & Parasitology

Abstract

Endoparasitic Prevalence of Urban Free Ranging Bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata) in Coonoor Town, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu: A Transversal Study

Manick Sundar B, Boon Allwin, Stalin Vedamanickam, Anjana Mohanraj and Bharath Jothi S

Bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata) is an endemic to southern India. The species that is largely arboreal is at present found in the all types of habitat, especially those created and maintained by human beings. Bonnet macaques of late have totally shifted their activity and existence towards human habitations, in other words these animals have become urban pests creating a lot of menace in human activities. This paper aims at finding out the prevalence of endoparasites in urban free ranging population of Bonnet macaques. As they share the same interface for their daily existence a zoonotic threat may be foreseen. So, a clear picture of the endoparasitic fauna of Bonnet macaques sharing the human occupations may be useful in bringing about discrete conclusions. The species encountered in the study were Ascaris sp., Trichuris sp., Strongyloides sp. and mixed endoparasitic infections consisting of Trichuris sp. with Ascaris sp. or Strongyloides sp. with Trichuris sp. Interestingly statistically no significant variations were found between the three regions where it was sampled from, the conclusion being that parasitism existed at the same level in all the three regions. The findings are discussed.