2.5 Soft ticks survey
Warthog burrows within NGR were identified with the assistance of game scouts during their regular patrols. When a warthog burrow was encountered, we looked for signs of activity (tracks and droppings) then GPS coordinates were recorded. A 20 litre bucket was used to collect sand from each burrow which was spread in a thin layer across a large, black plastic sheet in the sun. Due to photophobic nature of soft ticks, the sunlight and warm temperatures encourages Ornithodoros tick movement and facilitates tick detection as well as collection. A minimum period of 30 minutes per burrow was allowed, to ensure that tick movement would be elicited and that all visible ticks were collected (Ferran Jori et al., 2013)