Background The traditional use of plant as medicine for the management of man and animal health has been from time immemorial to alleviate sicknesses in both local and urban communities. Animal has been a medium of provision of proteins and for the normal growth of organisms, however there are a lot of diseases that are detritions’ to the normal health of animals, hence reduced the effectiveness of such an animal. There is therefore a need for ethnobotanical documentation of the medicinal plants as well as associated knowledge and practices. Method Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted in Ekiti South senatorial district between 2017 and 2018 to document plants used in treating animal diseases in the study area. Semi structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk methods was used to interview the respondents who supplied information on plants used in treating the identified animal diseases. Different ethnobotanical indices were used to evaluate the relevance of the documented plants to the management of animal diseased prevailing in the study area. Results A total of 63 plant species from 38 families were documented for the management of ruminant and birds animals. The plants were reported using to treat six categories of ailments. The part of the plants mostly used are the leaves (50.7%) followed by the bark (40.8%), the seed (35.2%) and root (18.3%). The plants are prepared and applied either singly or in combination with other plants and are used either in the wet or dried forms. Rationales for the choice of these plants were also identified. The decoctions and infusions are the most frequent methods of preparation. The traditional healers in the study area possess rich ethno-pharmacological knowledge and depend largely on naturally growing plant species. The documented medicinal plants can serve as a basis for further and future phytochemical and pharmacological studies. Conclusion The study areas are rich in biodiversity because of the favorable climatic conditions. However, the indiscriminate exploitation of the farming land is detrimental to the availability of some of the naturally occurred and indigenous plants, thus extinction of the plants cannot be underestimated. Therefore the documentation of the information will significantly contribute to the evaluation and preservation of the traditional knowledge before it is finally eroded. Key words: Semi-structured, livestock, diseases, management, indigenous knowledge
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