Innocent Until Proven Guilty: Systematic Review of the Effect of Livestock on South American Wild Canid Parasites.

Purpose: Livestock is regarded as a source of parasites to wildlife populations, but no assessment of the nature and magnitude of parasite transmission from livestock to South American canids is available.

Methods: Here we systematically reviewed articles that evaluate protozoa, helminths and arthropods in wild canids living in areas with and without the presence of livestock.

Results: There is an unbalanced study effort which precludes proper testing of the assumption that livestock increase the incidence and prevalence of parasites in wild canids.

Livestock guarding dogs have minor effects on the parasite burden of wild carnivores.

Livestock guarding dogs are increasingly used to reduce carnivore-livestock conflicts, but no information is available to determine any adverse effects that these dogs may have on the health of wild carnivores. We assessed differences in prevalence, richness and severity of parasites in chilla fox (Lycalopex griseus) populations associated with livestock guarding dogs, which were routinely dewormed. We also evaluated whether the parasite assemblages of herding dogs, which were not dewormed, and chilla foxes were more similar in the presence of livestock guarding dogs.