Today I was reading an article about the California condor louse (they all died when the last few condors were disinfected), and I started wondering how it would be possible to preserve certain species of parasites generally viewed as undesirable. Would it be possible to kind of just sustain some of them on their host's blood in a separate enclosure? Are there any parasites deliberately kept in captivity?
Parasite Conservation + Captivity
- Thread starter dinosauria
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Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
No, not that I'm aware of, but I'm sure there are ecologists out there somewhere who would want to do this.
But usually (not in the case of the condor , I know) when you conserve a host species you also by implication are actually conserving the parasite too.
But usually (not in the case of the condor , I know) when you conserve a host species you also by implication are actually conserving the parasite too.
Interesting topic. It's generally really hard to conserve and breed parasites at all, since they usually have only one host that they feed on, and to sustain them on something like California Condor blood would be generally really hard, as they wouldn't really want to hurt the Condor. Parasites are probably never seen in captivity, and if they were, they would last for not a long time for sure.
Thanks for the question though, not one I've ever heard asked before.
Thanks for the question though, not one I've ever heard asked before.
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
That subject was already treated: Conservation of parasites.
Interestingly enough, I searched up any threads like this, but It didn't come up with much.
An interesting example not often mentioned is brood parasites, as far as captivity goes I am thinking whydahs in particular. There are a good handful of whydah species that seem to do well in captivity. How facilities are breeding them I'm not sure, but it would be interesting to find out.
There is a famous article in the journal Conservation Biology about parasite conservation called "Equal Rights for Parasites". It was published in 1995, I suspect before many of you were born.
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1995.09010001.x
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1995.09010001.x
There is a new movement to conserve parasites launched with a special edition of the journal Biological Conservation. This Washington Post article has the scoop.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...3f258e-285a-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...3f258e-285a-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html