Abstract
Livestock guarding dogs are increasingly used to reduce carnivore-livestock conflicts, but no information is available to determine any adverse effects that these dogs may have on the health of wild carnivores. We assessed differences in prevalence, richness and severity of parasites in chilla fox (Lycalopex griseus) populations associated with livestock guarding dogs, which were routinely dewormed. We also evaluated whether the parasite assemblages of herding dogs, which were not dewormed, and chilla foxes were more similar in the presence of livestock guarding dogs. Scats of L. griseus and herding dogs were collected and screened for parasite eggs in areas with and without livestock guarding dogs to determine differences in prevalence, richness, intensity and parasite aggregation. We did not find any association between livestock guarding dogs and differences in parasite richness or prevalence of parasites. The intensity of parasites was higher among foxes positive to parasites when LGDs were present. A lower proportion of foxes with low parasite burdens occurred in areas with LGDs compared to areas without LGDs, but this difference was not significant at the population level. Our findings show the need to continue studying the effects of livestock guarding dogs on the health of wildlife with larger sample sizes and more locations.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Gregor Stipicic, Gabriela Simonetti, Angel Violic and Peter McLean for granting permits to work on their lands and their hospitality. We are also indebted to Diego Peñaranda, Gabriela Simonetti-Grez, Andre Rubio, Patricio Toro and Fernando Fredes for their collaboration in different aspects of the work.
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AAA is a fellow from the Organization of America States (Beca Académica OEA 2018–2020 Bolivia) and has also been supported by the Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Silvoagrecuarias y Veterinarias, Universidad de Chile. This research is part of Programa ‘Ganadería sustentable’ of Asociación Kauyeken.
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AAA, PR and JAS performed the conceptualization, writing and funding acquisition; AAA performed the data curation, methodology and formal analysis; PR and JAS performed the project administration and supervision.
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Arzabe, A.A., Retamal, P. & Simonetti, J.A. Livestock guarding dogs have minor effects on the parasite burden of wild carnivores. Parasitol Res 120, 3993–3999 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07348-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07348-9