Ethnozoological Evaluation and Zootherapeutic Inventory of Non-Protected Taxa in Ambikapur, Surguja District, Chhattisgarh

Author

Vishal Gupta, Prashant Singh Yadav, Yamini Singh


Abstract

Background: Rural and indigenous communities across much of the developing world still rely heavily on local plants and animals for everyday healthcare and diet, and that knowledge is passed down orally across generations. Although ethnobotanical practices have been well studied by comparison, zootherapy — the medicinal use of animal-obtained remedies — has stayed greatly undocumented despite how widespread it is. One problem holding back its implementation into mainstream healthcare and conservation planning is that most of the recorded practices by indigenous people rely on threatened, endangered, or legally protected species, which puts it at odds with national and international conservation law. This study looks instead at the zootherapeutic use of species that do not come under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 — along with aquatic invertebrates and domesticated animals — among tribal communities in Ambikapur, Surguja district, Chhattisgarh, India.

Methods: We carried out field surveys between October 2024 and February 2025 in two forest-fringe tribal villages, Ghanghri and Rukhpur, working with 48 key informants — 8 recognized traditional healers (Baigas/Baidhs) and 40 knowledgeable community elders. Twelve non-protected faunal species across Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Chordata (fish, birds, and mammals) were inventoried after we explicitly excluded any taxa banned under conservation law. We calculated the standard ethnobiological indices — Informant Consensus Factor (Fic), Species Use Value (UV), and Fidelity Level (FL%) — to measure cultural agreement and how specific each remedy was to a given ailment. Biological specimens and photographic vouchers were accessioned in the departmental museum.

Results: Informant agreement was highest for respiratory ailments (Fic = 0.97) and neuromuscular/paralytic conditions (Fic = 1.00), with debility and gastrointestinal/renal complaints close behind (Fic = 0.91). Oecophylla smaragdina, the Asian weaver ant, stood out with both the highest Use Value (UV = 0.79) and high fidelity (FL = 84.2%) for acute and spasmodic respiratory ailments. Macrobrachium dayanum and Lamellidens marginalis were the main bio-resources used for physical recovery, postpartum nutrition, and general debility, while Columba livia blood and flesh were used specifically for conditions locally described as facial palsy and hemiplegia (FL = 84.2%).

Conclusions: These results give a quantitative baseline for ethnozoological practice in northern Chhattisgarh, and suggest that the traditional healthcare needs reported here can plausibly be met using abundant, non-protected, and domesticated fauna — without drawing on species that conservation frameworks are trying to protect.


Keywords

Ethnozoology; Zootherapy; Quantitative ethnobiology; Wildlife conservation; Surguja; Non-protected taxa; Traditional knowledge.



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References


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