Ecological and faunistic characteristics of wolf (Canis Lupus) helminthiases in the North-Western Caucasus

UDC 619: 616.995.1:599.742.11:595.1

G. S. Itin, V. M. Kravchenko

Summary. Large population of wolves is registered in the mountain, piedmont, flooded and steppe zones of Krasnodar region. Despite the fact that wolves cause significant harm to populations of wild ungulates and livestock, their role in the formation and maintenance of natural focal diseases, including helminth infections, dangerous to humans, agricultural, domestic and wild animals, is undeniable. Authors studied ecologo-faunistic characteristics of wolf (Canis lupus) helminthocenosis in the North-Western Caucasus. The materials for the present work were helminth faunistic gatherings received from wolves caught in the flooded, piedmont and mountain landscapes of the North-Western Caucasus in the period from 2006 to 2017. Method of complete helminthological autopsies was used to study 24 corpses of wolves. Authors found 18 species of helminths, of which 3 species of trematodes, 6 species of cestodes, 9 species of nematodes. 15 species of parasitic worms detected on the territory of the North-West Caucasus have been registered for the first time. Various species of invertebrates and vertebrates take part as intermediate, additional or reservoir hosts in the life cycles of 16 species of parasitic worms. Invasion of predators occurs mainly through trophic chains, and trophic and epizootic chains rep-resent a set of trophic-epizootic chains, along which the life forms of helminths are constantly circulating. The authors found that wolves in piedmont and mountain areas are involved in maintaining of trichinosis natural foci.

Keywords: wolf, trophicoepizootic chain, natural focus, helminth infection, wild predators, domestic mammals, nematodes, trematodes, cestodes, life cycle.

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Аuthor aff illation:

Kravchenko Viktor M., docent, D.Sc. in Veterinary Medicine, docent of the department of anatomy, veterinary obstetrics and surgery of the Kuban State Agrarian University named after I.T. Trubilin; 13, Kalinina st., Krasnodar, 350044; phone: 8-861-2227083; e-mail: tinol65@bk.ru.

Responsible for correspondence with the editorial board: Itin Gennady S., Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, docent of the department of parasitology, veterinary-sanitary expertise and zoohygiene of the Kuban State Agrarian University named after I.T. Trubilin; 13 Kalinina st., Krasnodar, 350044; phone: 8-918-012-42-53; e-mail: genn.itin@yandex.ru.