Coccidiosis induces stress hormones in hard ground Barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii branderi)

Barasingha kwon as hard ground swamp deer ( Rucervus duvaucelii branderi ) found exclusively in Kanha Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh while small herd where shifted to Satpura and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves under ex-situ conservation plan. Barasingha enlisted in threatened species of Schedule-I and only three sub-species existing in India. During health monitoring and disease diagnosis schedule, physical body score evaluation and disease diagnostics of free ranging barasingha were performed using non invasive techniques. Freshly voided fecal pallets of barasingha were used for two way analysis (i) coprodiagnostic analysis to screen the gastrointestinal parasitic occurrence (ii) assessment of faecal cortisol metabolites using ELISA diagnostic kit (DetecX, Arbor assay, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA). The extracted cortisol aliquots were analyzed and obtained mean fecal cortisol metabolites (FCM) level 263.335 ± 43.050 pg/ml and 290.054 ± 40.147pg/ml in Barasingha of Kanha and Satpura tiger reserve respectively. Significant positive correlation was observed between FCM concentration with positive fecal samples of Eimeria spp in barasingha of both the parks at p < 0.01 level (2- tailed). Furthermore, significant positive correlation was also observed between FCM level and poor body condition score in Barasingha at p < 0.01 level (2- tailed). The study instigate poor body condition has strong correlation with coccidiosis that increases corticosteroids in barasingha affecting foraging behaviour.