Internal parasitic fauna of elk (Alces alces) in Poland

The abundance of elk (Alces alces) in Poland at the beginning of 2016 reached over 28 000 individual animals. However, little is still known about health status of elk population in the country. In particular, important health issue tend to be parasitic diseases which are the most common diseases in wild animals. Special emphasis should be given to the parasitofauna of elks. Their ability to move over great distances increases the chance of parasitic infestations in new areas and transmission to other wild animals and livestock. The aim of this article is to describe the parasites occurring in elk in Poland on the basis of previous studies from the country and to compare them with data from neighboring countries. The presented review reveals that elk populations have not been examined for the presence of parasites for decades, and no recent studies in Poland have examined the parasitofauna of this animal. As such, our study shows that assessing the parasites present in elk populations remains an important area of research.