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ARS Home » Plains Area » Kerrville, Texas » Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory » LAPRU » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #346795
Research Project: Cattle Fever Tick Control and Eradication

Location: Livestock Arthropod Pests Research

Title: Role and movement of nilgai antelope, Boselaphus tragocamelus, in the epizootiology of cattle fever ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in re-infestations along the Texas/Mexico border in south Texas

Author
item Lohmeyer, Kimberly - Kim

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/26/2017
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Nilgai antelope are the largest Asian antelope and are originally widespread across India. Nilgai were introduced into Texas in the 1940s for hunting purposes and are now the most abundant hoofed mammal in south Texas with population estimates in the early 1990s of more than 36,000 individuals. With infestations of cattle fever ticks outside the permanent quarantine zone increasing in south Texas, efforts are being focused on understanding the increasing role of wildlife on the spread of ticks. The role of white-tailed deer in moving ticks from one area to another has been documented, but not as much information is known on the role of nilgai antelope. Nilgai movement and tick infestation data from last fifteen years will be used to detail the increasing role of nilgai in the spread of cattle fever ticks in south Texas.

Technical Abstract: Nilgai antelope are the largest Asian antelope and are originally endemic to the Indian subcontinent. Nilgai were introduced into Texas in the 1940s for hunting purposes and are now the most abundant free-ranging ungulate in south Texas with population estimates in the early 1990s of more than 36,000 individuals. With infestations of cattle fever ticks outside the permanent quarantine zone increasing in south Texas, efforts are being focused on understanding the increasing role of wildlife on the spread of cattle fever ticks. The role of white-tailed deer in moving ticks from pasture to pasture has been documented, but not as much information is known on the role of nilgai antelope. Mapping/GIS evidence from the last fifteen years will be used to detail the increasing role of nilgai in the spread of cattle fever ticks in south Texas.