Background: Insects and arachnids have a lot of parasitic importance. Some of these organisms have medical and veterinary importance and are known as vector of some important disease. Captive animals in zoos are part of a complex ecosystem that involves some related endoparasites and ectoparasites. Studies on
zoo animals can increase our awareness of potential reservoirs of pathogens transmitted by arthropods such as Lyme disease spirochaete Borrelia burgdorferi, Leishmania spp., and Trypanosoma cruzi. The Shiraz
zoo with 60 years old is the only official
zoo in the south of country which is visited daily by international tourists.Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the contamination of all captive animals and their environment to parasitic arthropods for the first time in this part of Iran.Materials and Methods: samples were collected from
birds and mammalian cages. To sample the
ectoparasites of animals we used different methods of collecting like hand catch, light trap, sticky trap, netting and direct combing.Three different standard techniques were used to isolate all micro-arthropods like mites from soil samples, including floating method, direct observation and sampling using camel hair brush, and Berlese-funnel.After mounting all species were identified using different valid identification keys.Results: Overall 1174 species were collected from 31 animal cages including 13 species of insects and 11 species of arachnids. 83.33% of
birds and 77.77% of mammals were infested by ectoparasites. acrocheles Latreille, 1829 (Acari: Mesostigmata: Macrochelidae) with 51.19% and Linognathus sp. (Phthiraptera: Linognathidae) with 16.18% had the highest frequency among all species. The highest number of collected specimens was recorded in the fox cage (vulpes vulpes).The highest infestation rate of arthropods (88.8%) was found in the roof covered cages with soil on the floor. Menhinick richness, simpsons diversity, and Shannon-wiener indices were calculated 0.6996, 0.3102, and 0.339 respectively.Conclusion: Considerable abundance of arthropod
ectoparasites with high diversity in the Shiraz Zoo provides an important potential for transmission of zoonosis diseases to the staff and visitors. Therefore, it is essential to improve the health conditions and the health education of employees to prevent the possible risks of arthropod-borne diseases