A Comparison of the Tick Burdens of Wild Animals in a Nature Reserve and on an Adjacent Farm Where Tick Control is Practised

Acaricidal treatment of cattle, sheep and goats on a farm in Valley Bushveld in the Grahamstown district resulted in a reduction in the numbers of certain tick species on kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), scrub hares (Lepus saxatilis) and crowned guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) on the same farm. The tick species most severely affected was Amblyomma hebraeum, while Haemaphysalis silacea, Hyalomma marginatum rufipes and Rhipicephalus appendiculatus were affected to a lesser extent. Rhipicephalus glabroscutatum and Rhipicephalus oculatus appeared to be unaffected.