Article

Olga A. Loginova, PhD, Researcher of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the RAS (119071, Russia, Moscow, Leninsky Prospekt, 33); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9846-0800; e-mail: loginova_spb@bk.ru
Larisa M. Belova, Dr.Sc., Professor of the Department of the Saint Petersburg State University of Veterinary Medicine (196084, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Chernigovskaya Street, 5); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4473-1940; e-mail: larissabelova2010@yandex.ru
Alexander V. Senchik, PhD, Senior Researcher of the Professor B.M. Zhitkov All-Russian Research Institute of Hunting and Fur Husbandry (610020, Russia, Kirov Region, Kirov, Preobrazhenskaya Street, 79); e-mail: senchik_a@mail.ru
Alexey V. Kitaev, Head of the Department of the Baikal State Nature Reserve (671220, Russia, Republic of Buryatia, Tankhoi Village, Street Krasnogvardeyskaya, 34); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8863-4940; e-mail: kitav1986@mail.ru
Vladimir V. Khidekel, Lead Engineer of the V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography of the Siberian Branch of the RAS (664033, Russia, Irkutsk Region, Irkutsk, Ulan-Batorskaya Street, 1); Researcher of the Baikal State Nature Reserve (671220, Russia, Republic of Buryatia, Tankhoi Village, Street Krasnogvardeyskaya, 34); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7248-5094; e-mail: vvhidekel@gmail.com
Sofya B. Rozenfeld, Dr.Sc., Senior Researcher of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the RAS (119071, Russia, Moscow, Leninsky Prospekt, 33); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0015-4547; e-mail: rozenfeldbro@mail.ru
Yuriy N. Kalinkin, PhD, Leading Researcher of the Altai State Nature Biosphere Reserve (649000, Russia, Altai Republic, Gorno-Altaysk, Kommunistichesky Prospekt, 1); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2335-4541; e-mail: kalinkin72@mail.ru
Mikhail A. Zdvizhkov, PhD, Deputy Director of the State Nature Reserve «Vasyugansky» (634050, Russia, Tomsk Region, Tomsk, Nakhanovicha Lane); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6299-707X; e-mail: mazdvizhkov@vasyganskiy.ru
Ekaterina V. Lutik, PhD, Associate Professor of the Saint Petersburg State University of Veterinary Medicine (196084, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Chernigovskaya Street, 5); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2190-6330; e-mail: tokyolutik@yandex.ru
Valentina I. Anisimova, PhD student of the Irkutsk State University (664003, Russia, Irkutsk Region, Irkutsk, Karl Marx Street, 1); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3157-3111; e-mail: val711@mail.ru
Sergey M. Zuev, Leading Consultant of the Department for Indigenous Peoples of the North of the Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous District (629008, Russia, Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous District, Salekhard, Gavryushina Street, 17); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6070-1874; e-mail: ssalinders@mail.ru
Sergey A. Podolsky, PhD, Senior Researcher of the Water Problems Institute of the RAS (119333, Russia, Moscow, Gubkina Street, 3); Deputy Director of the Zeiskiy State Nature Reserve (676246, Russia, Amur Region, Zeya, Stroitelnaya Street, 71); e-mail: sergpod@mail.ru
Sergei E. Spiridonov, Dr.Sc., Head of Department of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the RAS (119071, Russia, Moscow, Leninsky Prospekt, 33); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6657-0418; e-mail: s_e_spiridonov@rambler.ru

Loginova O.A., Belova L.M., Senchik A.V., Kitaev A.V., Khidekel V.V., Rozenfeld S.B., Kalinkin Yu.N., Zdvizhkov M.A., Lutik E.V., Anisimova V.I., Zuev S.M., Podolsky S.A., Spiridonov S.E. 2026. Helminths of Rangifer tarandus (Artiodactyla, Cervidae) across the southern part of its continental range. Nature Conservation Research 11(4): 65–80. https://dx.doi.org/10.24189/ncr.2026.030

Electronic Supplement 1. Additional information for the paper by Loginova et al. (2026) (Link)

Rangifer tarandus in the southern Palaearctic remains poorly documented, particularly with respect to its helminth fauna. Existing data are scarce for these small, isolated, and conservation-significant populations. As helminths influence host survival, reproduction, and population stability, and may serve as biogeographical indicators, understanding their diversity in southern regions is of clear scientific and conservation importance. A total of 242 faecal samples were collected between 2012 and 2025 from populations of Rangifer tarandus in China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia and analysed using coproscopic methods. Morphological identifications were complemented by molecular analyses where possible. Taxonomic identification of larvae of some nematodes was based on sequencing the internal transcribed spacer regions of ribosomal DNA; attempts to extract DNA from the eggs of helminths failed. The study revealed trematodes of the superfamily Paramphistomatoidea, cestodes of the genus Moniezia, and nematodes including Elaphostrongylus rangiferi, Orthostrongylus macrotis, the dimorphic Ostertagia gruehneri / Ostertagia arctica species, as well as Nematodirus, Capillaria, and unidentified small strongylids. All taxa identified have previously been reported in Rangifer tarandus within the Palaearctic, with the exception of Nematodirus sp. in the southern part of the range. This study also provides the first helminth records from faecal samples of wild Rangifer tarandus in several Protected Areas and regions, including the State Nature Reserve «Vasyugansky» (Novosibirsk Region, Russia), Altai State Nature Reserve (Republic of Altai, Russia), Baikal State Nature Reserve (Republic of Buryatia, Russia), Irkutsk Region (Russia), Olyokminsky State Nature Sanctuary and Tokinsko-Stanovoy National Park (both – Amur Region, Russia), as well as from semiwild Rangifer tarandus in Zabaykalsky Krai (Russia), Khövsgöl National Park (Mongolia), and Inner Mongolia (China). The southernmost known distribution limits were established for Elaphostrongylus rangiferi and Orthostrongylus macrotis.

China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Palaearctic, Russia, semiwild reindeer, wild reindeer

Received: 19.03.2026. Revised: 16.07.2026. Accepted: 18.08.2026.

Aleuy O.A., Serrano E., Ruckstuhl K.E., Hoberg E.P., Kutz S. 2020. Parasite intensity drives fetal development and sex allocation in a wild ungulate. Scientific Reports 10: 15626. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72376-x

Andersson Stavridis M., Røed S.B., Hansen B.B., Mikkelsen Ø., Ciesielski T.M., Jenssen B.M. 2024. Tracing the footprints of Arctic pollution: Spatial variations in toxic and essential elements in Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) faeces. Science of the Total Environment 906: 167562. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167562

Baskin L., Danell K. 2003. Ecology of Ungulates: A Handbook of Species in Eastern Europe and Northern and Central Asia. Berlin/Heidelberg, New York: Springer. 434 p.

Blaker H. 2000. Confidence curves and improved exact confidence intervals for discrete distributions. Canadian Journal of Statistics 28(4): 783–798. DOI: 10.2307/3315916

Boev S.N. 1975. Protostrongylides. Principles of Nematodology. Vol. 25. Moscow: Nauka. 267 p. [In Russian]

Darling S.T., Barber M.A., Hacker H.P. 1920. Hookworm and Malaria. Research in Malaya, Java, and the Fiji Islands (Report of Uncinariasis Commission to the Orient 1915–1917). New York: Rockefeller Foundation International Health Board. 191 p.

Dróżdż J. 1995. Polymorphism in the Ostertagiinae Lopez-Neyra, 1947 and Comments on the Systematics of These Nematodes. Systematic Parasitology 32(2): 91–99. DOI: 10.1007/BF00009507

Dróżdż J., Namžyl G. 1973. On Trichostrongylidae (Nematoda) of cervid ruminants in Mongolia, with reference to some more data concerning the historical formation of the helminth fauna of this host group. Acta Parasitologica Polonica 30: 475–479.

Eduardo S.L. 1982. The taxonomy of the family Paramphistomidae Fischoeder, 1901 with special reference to the morphology of species occurring in ruminants. I. General considerations. Systematic Parasitology 4(1): 7–57. DOI: 10.1007/BF00012228

Gasser R.B., Chilton N.B., Hoste H., Beveridge I. 1993. Rapid sequencing of rDNA from single worms and eggs of parasitic helminths. Nucleic Acids Research 21(10): 2525–2526. DOI: 10.1093/nar/21.10.2525

Guillou S. 2005. Reindeer: Inhabitant of cold regions. Paris: Éd. Atlas jeunesse. 29 p.

Gunn A. 2016. Rangifer tarandus. In: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T29742A22167140. Available from https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T29742A22167140.en

Haukisalmi V., Laaksonen S., Oksanen A., Beckmen K., Halajian A., Yanagida T., Nakao M. 2018. Molecular taxonomy and subgeneric classification of tapeworms of the genus Moniezia Blanchard, 1891 (Cestoda, Anoplocephalidae) in northern cervids (Alces and Rangifer). Parasitology International 67(2): 218–224. DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2017.12.006

Hudson P.J., Dobson A.P., Lafferty K.D. 2006. Is a healthy ecosystem one that is rich in parasites?. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21(7): 381–385. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2006.04.007

Kadenatsii A.N. 1963. Helminths of Reindeer in Khabarovsk Krai. In: Proceedings of the All-Union Scientific Conference dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Kazan Veterinary Institute. Kazan: KVI. P. 146–147. [In Russian]

Kaltenborn B.P., Andersen O., Gundersen V. 2014. The role of wild reindeer as a flagship species in new management models in Norway. Norwegian Journal of Geography 68(3): 168–177. DOI: 10.1080/00291951.2014.904400

Klein D.R. 1980. Conflict Between Domestic Reindeer and Their Wild Counterparts: A Review of Eurasian and North American Experience. Arctic 33(4): 739–756. DOI: 10.14430/arctic2593

Kontrimavichus V.L., Delyamure S.L., Boev S.N. 1976. Metastrongyliodeas of Animals and Man. Principles of Nematodology. Vol. 26. Moscow: Nauka. 239 p. [In Russian]

Kurtén B. 1968. Pleistocene mammals in Europe. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 317 p.

Kurtén B., Anderson E. 1980. Pleistocene mammals in North America. New York: Columbia University Press. 442 p.

Loginova O.A. 2024. Helminths of Reindeer in Kazakhstan. In: Modern Problems of General and Applied Parasitology. Voronezh: Tsifrovaya poligrafiya. P. 90–95. [In Russian]

Loginova O.A., Kolpashchikov L.A., Spiridonov S.E. 2023a. First report of Orthostrongylus sp. (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) in wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from the Taimyr, Russia: Nearctic parasites in a Palearctic host. Parasitology Research 122(2): 685–689. DOI: 10.1007/s00436-022-07754-7

Loginova O.A., Rozenfeld S.B., Sipko T.P., Mizin I.A., Panchenko D.V., Laishev K.A., Bondar M.G., Kolpashchikov L.A., Gruzdev A.R., Kulemeev P.S., Litovka D.I., Semerikova M.N., Mamontov V.N., Mamaev E.G., Spiridonov S.E. 2023b. Diversity and Distribution of Helminths in Wild Ruminants of the Russian Arctic: Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), and Snow Sheep (Ovis nivicola). Diversity 15(5): 672. DOI: 10.3390/d15050672

Loginova O.A., Sipko T.P., Hernandez-Blanco J.A., Plotnikova Iu.K. 2024. Helminthocoproscopy of Wild Reindeer and Muskoxen in the Magadan Region. In: Biological problems of the North. Magadan: Znanie-M. P. 167–168. [In Russian]

Machulsky S.N. 1955. Wild ungulates as reservoirs of Helminthic Diseases for Farm Animals of the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR. Proceedings of the Buryat-Mongolian Zoological Veterinary Institute 9: 163–172. [In Russian]

MacKenzie K., Abaunza P. 1998. Parasites as Biological Tags for Stock Discrimination of Marine Fish: a Guide to Procedures and Methods. Fisheries Research 38(1): 45–56. DOI: 10.1016/S0165-7836(98)00116-7

Mizkewitsch V.Y. 1967. Reindeer Helminths and the Diseases They Cause. Leningrad: Kolos. 308 p. [In Russian]

Morgulis A., Coulouris G., Raytselis Y., Madden T.L., Agarwala R., Schäffer A.A. 2008. Database indexing for production MegaBLAST searches. Bioinformatics 24(16): 1757–1764. DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btn322

Mysterud A., Tveraa T., Hansen B.B., Gundersen V., Tømmervik H., Erlandsson R., Røed K.H., Våge J., Andersen R., Brænd E., Bøthun S.W., Elgaaen M., Holand Ø., Kjørstad M., Kvie K., Mossing A., Myren I.S., Panzacchi M., Peeters B., Punsvik T., Romtveit L., Skarin A., Moorter B.V., Veiberg V., Jaren V., Strand O., Rolandsen C.M. 2025. A quality standard for conservation of wild reindeer. Wildlife Monographs 219(1): e70005. DOI: 10.1002/wmon.70005

National Standard. 2013. National Standard of the Russian Federation GOST R 54627-2011: Agricultural Ruminant Animals. Methods of Laboratory Helminthological Diagnostics. Moscow: Standartinform. 20 p. [In Russian]

Panchenko D.V., Mizin I.A., Rozhnov V.V. 2021. Reindeer Rangifer tarandus Linnaeus, 1758. In: Red Data Book of the Russian Federation. Animals, 2^nd ed. Moscow: VNII Ekologiya. P. 1020–1025. [In Russian]

R Core Team. 2025. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available from https://www.R-project.org

Rehbein S., Vymyslická P.J., Peterka T., Strube C., Visser M., Mayr S., Lackerschmid J. 2024. Calicophoron daubneyi (Paramphistomidae) in deer of the Šumava National Park, Czech Republic – Consequence of Prevalent Rumen Fluke Infection in Cattle. Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Reports 50: 101012. DOI: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2024.101012

Skrjabin K.I. 1928. Method of complete helminthological dissections of vertebrates, including humans. Moscow: First Moscow State University. 45 p. [In Russian]

Skrjabin K.I. 1930. Worm infections in reindeer. Moscow, Lenindrad: Selkhozgiz. 88 p. [In Russian]

Skrjabin K.I. 1949. Trematodes of Animals and Man. Principles of Trematodology. Vol. 3. Moscow: AS USSR. 623 p. [In Russian]

Skrjabin K.I., Shikhobalova N.P., Schulz R.S. 1954. Trichostrongylides of Animals and Man. Principles of Nematodology. Vol. 3. Moscow: AS USSR. 683 p. [In Russian]

Skrjabin K.I., Shikhobalova N.P., Orloff I.W. 1957. Trichocephalides and Capillariides of Animals and Man and the Diseases They Cause. Principles of Nematodology. Vol. 6. Moscow: AS USSR. 587 p. [In Russian]

Smirnov M.N. 2016. Reindeer in the South of Siberia. Krasnoyarsk: Siberian Federal University. 230 p. [In Russian]

Spassky A.A. 1951. Fundamentals of Cestodology. Anoplocephalates – tapeworms of domestic and wild animals. Vol. 1. Moscow: AS USSR. 735 p. [In Russian]

Sulimov A.D. 1966. Helminths of Reindeer in Tuva. Proceedings of the Omsk Veterinary Institute 24: 135–141. [In Russian]

Sulimov A.D. 1968. On the Helminth Fauna of Wild Ruminants of Tuva. Proceedings of the Omsk Veterinary Institute 25: 238–242. [In Russian]

Tryland M., Kutz S.J. (Eds.). 2019. Reindeer and Caribou. Health and Disease. Boca Raton, London, New York: CRC Press. 533 p.

Vajda T. 1931. Rapid method for diagnosing lung helminths in sheep. Állatorvosi Lapok 54: 187–190.

Zaplatin M.A. 1964. Chara: With a movie camera across Transbaikalia. Moscow: Mysl. 142 p. [In Russian]

Zhaltsanova D.S.D. 1972. Detection of Fischoederius elongatus (Poirier, 1883) in the Buryat ASSR. In: Epizootiology, Epidemiology, and Prophylaxis of Helminthiases. Vol. 24. Moscow: All-Union Society of Helminthologists. P. 49–50. [In Russian]

Zhang Z., Schwartz S., Wagner L., Miller W. 2000. A greedy algorithm for aligning DNA sequences. Journal of Computational Biology 7(1–2): 203–214. DOI: 10.1089/10665270050081478