Which Parasites Should We be Most Concerned About in Wildlife Translocations?

Excerpt

In the context of wildlife translocations, it is important to recognize that there is a growing body of evidence that parasites are an essential component of a healthy ecosystem (Hudson et al. 2006). Parasites broadly (to include everything from viruses to parasitic arthropods) play an important role in regulating populations (Hudson et al. 1998; Tompkins et al. 2002a), structuring communities (Dobson and Hudson 1986; Marcogliese 2004; Tompkins et al. 2011; Hatcher et al. 2014), and adding complexity and stability to food webs (Lafferty et al. 2006; Smith et al. 2006; Wood 2007). Since ecosystem restoration is typically one of the goals of wildlife translocations, we should strive whenever possible to translocate animals with their native parasites—those that have coevolved with the host in the region and ecosystem in question. The regional context is critical, as some host species with broad geographic distribution could have a parasite that is native to one region, but not another. Such an approach could even reduce the risk of translocation failure, since movement of naïve animals without their native parasites into an environment where exposure will occur could increase the risk of parasite-induced morbidity and mortality (Almberg et al. 2012). While this approach might not be practical in all situations, the potential benefits, and minimal risk, posed by most native parasites to a stable or growing host population should be considered in any risk analysis for wildlife translocations (Gompper and Williams 1998; Gomez et al. 2012). …