Wildlife Parasitology
Wildlife Parasitology - Related Videos
09:37
Helminth Collection and Identification from Wildlife
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Cited by 51 •
2013
Wild animals are commonly parasitized by a wide range of helminths. The four major types of helminths are “roundworms” (nematodes), “thorny-headed worms” (acanthocephalans), “flukes” (trematodes), and “tapeworms” (cestodes). Here we describe how helminths are collected from a vertebrate animal and how they are preserved and taxonomically...
10:17
Cities As Interfaces of Zoonotic Hazard Emergence: Development of the New York City Tick and Wildlife Urban Surveillance System
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2026
There is a critical need to monitor how ticks and their wildlife hosts respond to urbanization. This protocol outlines the steps for developing a standardized Tick and Wildlife Urban Surveillance System that will enable adaptive management in response to emerging tick-borne hazards in urban environments.
04:10
A Trap-Vaccinate-Release Protocol for Immunization of Skunks and Additional Rabies Vectors Against Rabies
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2024
Here, we present a protocol to demonstrate safe, trap-vaccinate-release (TVR) techniques for carnivores susceptible to rabies.
09:09
Protocol for Assessing the Relative Effects of Environment and Genetics on Antler and Body Growth for a Long-lived Cervid
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Cited by 2 •
2017
Phenotypic differences among cervid populations may be related to population-level genetics or nutrition; discerning which is difficult in the wild. This protocol describes how we designed a controlled study where nutritional variation was eliminated. We found that phenotypic variation of male white-tailed deer was more limited by nutrition than genetics.
07:39
A Video Surveillance System to Monitor Breeding Colonies of Common Terns (Sterna Hirundo)
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Cited by 2 •
2018
This paper describes a protocol that uses a remote video monitoring surveillance system to continuously monitor breeding colonies of ground-nesting waterbirds. The system includes five cameras monitoring individual nests and one camera monitoring the colony as a whole, and is powered by car batteries that are recharged via solar panels.
FAQs
These processes determine how parasites persist and spread within wildlife populations. Transmission moves parasites between hosts, reproduction maintains infections within or on host tissues, and life-cycle stages may require particular environmental conditions or intermediate hosts. Examining how these processes connect helps researchers interpret infection patterns and identify ecological factors that influence parasite persistence.
Environmental conditions can determine whether particular life-cycle stages develop, survive, or reach suitable hosts. Changes in habitat, climate, or pollution may therefore alter opportunities for infection and modify disease patterns. In wildlife parasitology, linking infection observations with environmental conditions helps explain why parasite effects differ among locations, host populations, or changing ecosystems.
Wildlife movement can connect host populations and habitats that would otherwise have fewer ecological links. As animals move, they may contribute to transmission between locations, while parasites with environmentally dependent stages or intermediate hosts may respond differently to those movements. This relationship makes animal distribution and movement important when interpreting disease patterns and planning surveillance.
Parasites are part of the ecological relationships linking wild animals and their environments, so changes in parasite patterns can provide information about broader ecosystem conditions. Habitat change, climate, pollution, and host movement may influence those patterns, with consequences for wildlife health and biodiversity. Studying these links helps environmental researchers include disease processes in ecological assessment.
Wildlife parasitology supports monitoring by connecting infections with host ecology and environmental conditions. Researchers can use parasite-related findings to examine disease patterns in wild animals and identify how habitat, climate, pollution, or movement may be contributing factors. This information strengthens evaluation of wildlife health and can guide continued observation of changing ecological conditions.
Its findings help conservation planning by showing how parasite transmission and environmental change may affect wildlife populations and biodiversity. The field also supports pathogen surveillance, including assessment of possible transmission among wildlife, domestic animals, and people. Together, these applications provide ecological context for identifying disease-related concerns while managing wildlife and their habitats.