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Aim: Chital and sambar are the common wild small herbivores, which are vulnerable to poaching for their meat. Many times poachers claim the wild meat to be that of goat or sheep. Hence, authentic evidences are required to stop such wildlife crime. The present investigation was carried out to study the species specific PCR-RFLP patterns for meat identification of chital and sambar and then differentiation from the meat of goat and sheep. Materials and Methods: Extracted DNA from meat samples were subjected to PCR using the universal primers of 12S rRNA gene. The PCR products were subjected to RFLP and sequencing. Results: The size of amplified PCR products was similar (440 bp) in each species and sequence alignment showed more than 89 % similarities among these species. However, phylogenetic analysis revealed that Chital and Sambar are in one cluster while Goat and sheep are in other cluster. To differentiate between species, restriction digestion of the PCR products was carried out to produce characteristic PCR-RFLP patterns for each species. Restriction digestion with RsaI and AluI enzymes produced distinct PCR-RFLP patterns that differentiated the meat of wild species (chital-sambar) from that of domestic species (goat-sheep). BsrI restriction digestion revealed unique PCR-RFLP pattern in chital differentiating it from the meat of other three species. Restriction digestion with DdeI enzyme led to the production of distinct PCR-RFLP patterns for chital and sambar to identify their meat individually. Conclusion: This study showed the effectiveness of 12S rRNA gene polymorphism in meat identification. The data can be used as evidence against the poachers to convict the wildlife crime in the court of law [Vet World 2013; 6(5.000): 254-259]

This study examined the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infections and pasture contamination, and assessed the body condition of free-ranging wild herbivores (i.e. Chital or Spotted Deer, Sambar and Nilgai) in Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). The work was carried out in three distinct seasons (i.e. winter, summer and rainy) for a period of 1 year (2005-06). Faecal samples were collected and screened for the presence of eggs/oocysts/cysts of parasites on the basis of qualitative and quantitative estimation techniques, and the body condition of animals was evaluated on a point scale.

Fifty faecal samples of wild ruminants including 15 samples of Chital Axis axis, 15 of Neelgai Boselaphus tragocamelus, 10 of Gaur Bos gaurus and 10 of Sambar Cervus unicolor were collected from the peripheral forests around Jabalpur and subjected to coprological examination by standard techniques. The coprological examination of different wild herbivores showed that maximum helminth infection was present in Sambar (90.0%) followed by Neelgai (86.67%) whereas 80.0% infection was reported in Gaur and Chital. It was observed that 94.0% helminth infection was present in mixed form whereas only 6.0% mono-infection was observed.