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The present study was designed for biomonitoring of heavy metals such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn) and cobalt (Co) at three selected wildlife parks of Punjab. Soil, water and feed samples analysis revealed the high heavy metals contents in feed (21.59 ± 27.39 and 12.67 ± 23.13) followed by soil (11.80 ± 25.84 and 4.96 ± 10.95) and water (2.93 ± 4.48 and 1.11 ± 1.23) samples at Jallo Wildlife Park and Wildlife Park Bahawalnagar, respectively. At Wildlife Park Murree, heavy metals contamination was recorded highest in feed (10.45 ± 16.35), followed by water (6.26 ± 11.35) and soil samples (5.75 ± 9.54). Feathers samples at all sites showed the highest levels of heavy metals concentrations as 12.21 ± 25.69 at Jallo Wildlife Park, 11.50 ± 25.63 at Wildlife Park Bahawalnagar and 3.35 ± 4.81 at Wildlife Park Murree. Interspecific variation of heavy metals among samples and sites was recorded at P < 0.01, and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the feathers of captive birds was found in high concentration, making them a good indicator of biomonitoring. In captivity, the birds feeding on homogenous diets and particular environmental conditions can better allow us to understand the bioaccumulation of polymetallic contamination, which can further be generalized to predict the risk of these toxic pollutants on public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metals and their genotoxic effects in captive Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) residing in various regions of Punjab, Pakistan, specifically, Wildlife Park Bahawalpur (WPB), Jallo Wildlife Park Lahore (JWPL), and Wildlife Park Murree (WPM) were evaluated in blood, feathers, eggshell and egg content samples. The Single-cell gel electrophoresis (Comet) assay was performed to evaluate DNA damage. The results showed that the concentration of Cr was significantly high (P < 0.05) in Blood (3.79 µg/g), Feather (4.87 µg/g), Egg shell (51.02 µg/g) and Egg Content (13.59 µg/g) samples of Jallo Wildlife Park Lahore followed by Pb, Mn, Ni and Co. The highest (P < 0.05) metal accumulation was found in eggshell samples due to its porous structure as compared to other samples. Likewise region-wise analysis showed that Jallo Wildlife Park Lahore appeared to be more polluted than WPB and WPM. Indian Peafowl kept at WPM and JWPL exhibited higher levels of genotoxicity compared to the birds kept at WPB. This disparity can be attributed to the increased exposure to pollution and heightened stress experienced by the peafowl in the former two locations. This study concluded that among all the three study sites of Punjab, the WPB is most suitable for housing captive animals and birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was planned to detect Babesia ovis (B. ovis) in naturally infected sheep and goat herds of Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Jhang districts of Punjab, Pakistan through microscopy and molecular diagnostic techniques i.e., PCR and nPCR. For this purpose, a total of 892 blood samples were collected i.e., sheep (n=544), goats (n=348) in both seasons (summer + winter). Initially, the samples were screened via the blood film and the blood smear examinations revealed parasite merozoites as tear drop in pair identified as babesia. The overall prevalence in summer based upon microscopic analysis was 22.05% (60/272) in sheep and 16.05% (28/174) in goat, respectively. In winter the prevalence was 7.34% (20/272) and 4.59% (8/174) in sheep and goat, respectively. In summer the results based upon PCR were 29.7% (81/272) and 23.56% (41/174) and n-PCR were 31.98% (87/272) and 27.01% (47/174) in sheep and goats respectively. On the other hand, in winter results showed that 12.13% (33/272), 9.77% (17/174) and 13.60% (37/272), 13.21% (23/174) samples positive for B. ovis through PCR and nPCR respectively. The results have shown that sensitivity of NPCR is more as compared to conventional PCR. The product size of B. ovis through PCR and NPCR was 186 base pair (bp) and 549 bp. Furthermore, the prevalence based upon different risk factors i.e., age, sex, housing, floor system, presence or absence of ticks was determined. Statistical analysis of different risk factors indicated that, increased age, non-cemented floor, closed housing, weak body condition and heavy infestation of ticks increase the incidence of disease by many folds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]