Field evaluation of the efficacy of fenbendazole in captive wild ruminants

The efficacy of in‐feed fenbendazole at a dose rate of 7·5 mg/kg bodyweight for three consecutive days was assessed in five Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx), six scimitar‐horned oryx (Oryx dammah), 14 slender‐horned gazelles (Gazella leptoceros), eight Soay sheep (Ovis aries aries soay), 13 alpine ibex (Capra ibex ibex), six red deer (Cervus elaphus hippelaphus) and 11 Nelson’s elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) kept in five herds in a zoo. The efficacy was assessed by means of repeated faecal egg count reduction (FECR) tests and in vitro egg hatch assays. Fenbendazole was highly effective against nematodes in five of the seven species, consistently reducing egg shedding by more than 90 per cent. In the egg hatch assays of the five herds, 50 per cent inhibition of hatching (LD50) was observed at a concentration of thiabendazole below 0·1 μg/ml. In the Arabian oryx and alpine ibex the efficacy of fenbendazole was less than 90 per cent, and the LD50 in the egg hatch assays was between 0·1 and 0·2 μg/ml thiabendazole.