THE PARASITIC FAUNA AND THE FOOD HABITS OF THE WILD JUNGLE CAT FELIS CHAUS FURAX DE WINTON, 1898 IN IRAQ

Abstract

A total of 72 specimens of the wild jungle cat Felis chaus furax De Winton, 1898 were
examined for the purpose of this study. The results show that 55.6% of the sample harbored
either single or mixed infections with ecto- and/ or endoparasites. The mode of infection
shows that only four specimens( 5.6% of the total sample) acquire single infections, the
double infections comprise 15.3%, the triple infections comprised 33.3%, while the
quadruplicate infections comprised 1.4%.
The systematic list of the parasites included six ectoparasites: Ctenocephalides felis (insect),
Sarcoptes scabiei (mite), Haemaphysalis adleri, Rhipicephalus leporis, Rhipicephalus
turanicus and Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum (ticks) and seven endoparasites: Filaria
felis n. sp., F. melis, Toxocara canis (nematodes), Mesocestoides sp., Taenia crassiceps
(cestodes), Heterophyes dispar (trematode), and Oncicola probably travassosi
(acanthocephalan).
The meal of this cat in Iraq as revealed by the stomach analyses includes a wide variety of
invertebrate and vertebrate preys belonging to 48 species of mammals, birds, reptiles,
amphibians, fishes,