A kind of parasite with ability to grow up to 65 centimetres long and can survive by the hundreds inside the huge mammals’ lungs has been spreading throughout Canadian North.

Earlier, Lungworms used to be present in the mainland of the northern territories, but the first case on Victoria Island was discovered in 2008 and their reach in oxen and caribou has been growing in the Arctic archipelago.

Presently, researchers are optimistic that 8 reindeer staying in captivity in Calgary can be helpful in saving the lives of ungulates in the wild by providing them insights into behavior of the parasites.

An associate professor in veterinary medicine at the U of C, Susan Kutz, said that the reindeer have been immunized with lungworms so that scientists can research on the parasites’ life cycles and throw some light over their reaction to various temperatures.

Kutz said that climate change has handled Arctic ungulates a twice blow by the ‘temperature constraints’ removal that used to restrict the geography wherein lungworms may survive, while also changing the northern environment in such ways, making the animals more vulnerable to parasites and other pathogens and also predators.

Kutz said that they found some muskoxen with 600 to 700 lungworm-filled nodules in their lungs. She said that they made them easier targets for bears and wolves attempting to chase them down.

She said, “What that means is there's less capacity for breathing. There's so many worms in there, the animals just aren't as able to breathe as well”.