TAPIR FIELD VETERINARY MANUAL - Tapir Specialist Group

a. Flotation Method: 3-5 g of feces are placed in a small container (10-15 ml) and
mixed with a solution of a greater specific gravity than water, which will encourage the
“flotation” of parasitic ova, cysts and some larvae. A super-saturated solution of sugar
can be made by mixing table sugar and water. This solution is not ideal, as it can lead
to the rupture of some ova, but is effective in the field when other solutions are not
available. The container is filled with the mixture of feces and fecal flotation solution to
form a positive meniscus and covered with a clean microscope slide. This is allowed to
sit for 10-15 minutes, at which time the slide is removed and presumably the ovum
that have floated to the top and thus have “stuck” can be examined with a light
microscope.
b. Sedimentation Method: This method allows the sedimentation of heavy parasitic
ova that typically are not found with the flotation method (e.g. trematode eggs). 1 g of
feces is thoroughly mixed with 5 ml of acetic acid. This is allowed to rest for 1 minute
and then strained into a centrifuge tube. An identical volume of ether is added to this
tube, mixed thoroughly and centrifuged for 1 minute at 1,500 RPM. The consequent
sediment should contain the parasitic ova. The top most layers in the tube contain
ether and acetic acid and should be appropriately discarded. The sediment should be
mixed with a couple of drops of warm water and mixed thoroughly. This mixture is
aspirated with a pipette and a couple of drops are placed on a clean microscope slide
and examined with a light microscope.
Note: When fresh endoparasites are found on the feces, they should be washed in fresh
water and fixated with alcohol 70% (nematodes) or AFA solution, Alcohol-Formalin-Acetate
(flat worms).
6.1.4.2. Hormones: For the dosage of hormonal metabolites, samples should be frozen
and sent to specialized laboratories. Fecal samples for hormonal analysis have to
be as fresh as possible. Once the sample is collected it can be dried frozen or
extracted in the field. The extracted sample can be stored until it is processed in
an endocrinology laboratory.
6.1.4.3. Genetics: See details about collection, handling and storage of fecal samples for
genetics studies in the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group (TSG) Manual of
Sampling Techniques for Genetic Analysis. This manual was developed by
the TSG Genetics Committee and is available online on the TSG Website
(www.tapirs.org) in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Further information can be
obtained on the Genetics Committee WebPages:
http://tapirs.org/committees/genetics/index.html