Ticks (Parasitiformes: Ixodida: Ixodidae) parasites of wild Baird’s tapirs (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Abstract

ABSTRACT Tapirs are common hosts of ticks and an individual can be infested by up to seven different tick species. We explored the parasitic tick fauna associated with wild Baird’s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) from the Yucatan Peninsula. A total of 326 ticks of 10 species of the Family Ixodidae were collected from 15 tapirs. We found a range of one to six tick species per host, but most of the tapirs were parasitized by two or three tick species. We tested the relationship between body condition, sex, and age classes of the tapirs versus the number of tick species on each host. The most common tick species was Amblyomma mixtum found on 93% of the hosts. Amblyomma pecarium, Amblyomma tenellum, Ixodes affinis and Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato were recorded for the first-time parasitizing Baird’s tapirs. We did not find a relationship between body condition, sex, and age classes of tapirs versus the number of parasitizing tick species. Our finding demonstrates that the richness of ticks parasitizing tapirs does not depend on the biological characteristics and health status of the host, but could be determined by other factors such as habitat use and the rate of contact with domestic animals.