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Gastrointestinal Parasites Were Found in 96% of Blackbuck Samples From Nepal Conservation Area

Adult male blackbuck in Blackbuck Conservation Area, Bardiya, Nepal
Research · Disease, parasites & microbiology

A study of wild blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) in Nepal’s Blackbuck Conservation Area found gastrointestinal parasites in 144 of 150 fresh faecal samples, a prevalence of 96%. The samples came from individual animals in the conservation area at Khairapur in Bardia district.

Gastrointestinal parasites include protozoans and parasitic worms that live in or pass through the digestive system. Faecal detection shows that parasites or their reproductive stages are present, but does not by itself show clinical disease severity; because blackbuck share grazing areas with livestock, such baseline surveys can also reveal where transmission may be shared across host species.

Microscopic examination identified ten parasite genera representing protozoa, cestodes, trematodes and nematodes. Paramphistomum was the most frequently detected genus at 55.3%, followed by Strongyloides at 52%, Fasciola at 36%, Haemonchus at 26% and Moniezia at 24%.

Mixed parasite infections were common

Mixed infections were common. Among the positive samples, infections involved between one and six parasite genera, and triple infections were the most frequent category. Most samples were classified as lightly infected, although five parasite types also reached the study’s heavy category. These categories were based on counts of eggs, oocysts or larvae per microscopic field, so they describe parasite burden in the faecal samples rather than confirmed clinical disease severity in the animals. Females had more positive samples than males, but the researchers found no statistically significant association between sex and parasite prevalence across genera.

The authors note that blackbuck share grazing areas with livestock in the conservation area and identify shared pasture as a possible route for parasite transmission. They present the study as baseline information for wildlife-health monitoring in Nepal’s only wild blackbuck population.

Sources and image credit

  1. Thapa, M., & Subedi, J. R. (2026). Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in Blackbuck (Antelope cervicapra Linnaeus, 1758) of Blackbuck Conservation Area, Khairapur, Bardia, Nepal. Veterinary Medicine and Science, 12(2), e70884. https://doi.org/10.1002/vms3.70884Primary peer-reviewed open-access study, first published 11 March 2026 under CC BY 4.0. Researchers examined 150 fresh blackbuck faecal samples from Blackbuck Conservation Area in Bardia, Nepal; 144 samples (96%) contained one or more gastrointestinal parasites and ten parasite genera were identified.

Image: Sunuwargr — wild adult male blackbuck photographed in Blackbuck Conservation Area, Bardiya, Nepal, 15 November 2025; Wikimedia Commons; photographed in the same conservation area as the parasite study; cropped to 16:9 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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