History and development of research on wildlife parasites in southern Africa, with emphasis on terrestrial mammals, especially ungulates

Graphical Abstract

Highlights

• The history of wildlife parasitology in South Africa, and to some extent southern Africa, is reviewed.

• A brief overview of the early years, starting in the 1890s, is included.

• Systematic attempts to study the parasite fauna of each game species since 1970s.

• The main findings on protozoan, arthropod and helminth parasites are presented.

Abstract

The history of wildlife parasitology in South Africa, and to some extent southern Africa, is reviewed, giving a brief overview of the early years and following its development from the founding of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in 1908 until the turn of the century. An emphasis is placed on game species. The main findings on protozoan parasites, including those of carnivores, are presented, starting in the 1890s and leading up to the first decade of the 21st century. Important developments with regard to the studies of arthropod and helminth parasites took place during a period of three decades, starting from the 1970s. Because of the sheer volume of work done by parasitologists during this time, this particular part of the overview concentrates on South African authors or authors working in South Africa at the time, and is limited to hosts that are members of the order Perissodactyla and the superorder Cetartiodactyla.