Influence of seasonality and biological activity on infection by helminths in Cantabrian bear.

This study aimed to investigate the variations of parasites in the feces of brown bears inhabiting the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain). A total of 248 bear fecal samples were collected throughout one year, spanning from August 2018 to September 2019, at an approximate frequency of 20 samples per month. The results were analyzed in relation to both the season and the biological activity of the brown bears, i.e., hibernation, mating and hyperphagia. Among the examined samples, eggs of (32.2%; 95% Confidence Interval: 26.4-38.1), sp. (44.8%; 38.5-50.9), ancylostomatids (probably belonging to spp.) (16.5%; 11.9-21.1) and sp. (1.2%; 0-2.6) were observed. Significant seasonal differences were noted for and ancylostomatids (χ = 21.02,  = 0.001 and χ = 34.41,  = 0.001, respectively). Furthermore, the presence of helminth eggs was correlated with the activity phase of the brown bears. attained the highest prevalence during the mating phase, while and ancylostomatids were more frequent during hyperphagia. Notably, the highest egg-output counts for and sp. were recorded during the mating phase and hibernation, respectively, whereas ancylostomatids eggs peaked during hyperphagia. Additionally, variations in egg-output counts were significant for all helminths concerning the season, with the exception of sp., and for and sp. According to bear activity. It is concluded that infection by gastrointestinal helminths depends on the season and the biological activity of the bears from the Cantabrian Mountains, and their health status could result influenced.