Invited speaker at the Wildlife and Exotics Student Association

On 25 February 2026, I had the pleasure of giving a lecture titled Parasites in wildlife: implications for conservation at Amphitheatre Popoviciu, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Romania, as part of a WESA event. The meeting brought together students from different years, which made the discussion especially dynamic and rewarding.

The talk focused on a subject that is still often misunderstood: parasites are not only agents of disease, but also important components of ecosystems. In wildlife populations, parasitic organisms can influence host health, behaviour, population dynamics, community structure, and, ultimately, biodiversity. Looking at parasites only as enemies to be eliminated gives us an incomplete picture of nature. In many cases, understanding host–parasite interactions is essential for sound conservation planning.

During the lecture, we discussed how parasites can act as indicators of ecosystem integrity, how environmental change may alter host–parasite relationships, and why conservation biology should pay more attention to parasitic diversity. I also presented examples from wildlife medicine and parasitology that illustrate the complex balance between animal health, ecosystem function, and biodiversity conservation.