Zootherapy is the treatment of human ailments with remedies derived from animals and their products. Despite its prevalence in traditional medical practices worldwide, research on this phenomenon has often been neglected in comparison to medicinal plant research. Interviews regarding zootherapeutic traditions were conducted with informants from Albania, Italy, Nepal and Spain. We identified 80 species used in zootherapeutic remedies, representing 4 phyla in the animal kingdom: Annelida, Arthropoda, Chordata, and Mollusca. Remedies were ranked by consensus indices. Our studies show that the selection of medicinal fauna is mediated by human subsistence patterns. Concepts of health and disease differ among our study sites in the Mediterranean and Asia, and these differences also play a substantive role in the selection and use of animal-based remedies.

BackgroundNepal is small in size but rich in bio-cultural diversity. The rugged terrain of the country is home to a number of unique assemblages of fauna, some of which are endemic. Not only faunal resources the country also harbors some very ancient populations whose interrelationship with these diverse faunal resources is very intimate and thus demands scientific study. Animals play important role in both material and spiritual spheres of their life. There are more than hundred groups of such populations in the country and the group Tamang is one of these. The present paper studies Tamang-animal relationships in central Nepal.There is a growing trend of scientific ethnozoological studies all across the globe, but this field is yet in its infancy in Nepal. The country is losing important fauna as well as ancient human cultures at the advent of development processes. As a result, ethnozoological knowledge is also teetering on the brink of extinction.MethodsEthnozoological data were collected by applying different participatory approaches techniques such as semi-structured interviews, participatory rural appraisal, key informant interviews and focus group discussions.Quantitative data were obtained by employing a household level questionnaire survey. Data were collected from the period of September 2004 to August 2005.Most of the animals were identified up to the species level with the help of standard taxonomic keys.ResultsThe Tamang community treasures knowledge on various uses of 41 genera belonging to 28 families. Out of total number of animals, 14.6% belong to the Invertebrate group and the rest to the Vertebrate group. Of the total uses 58% fall in the food and medicinal use category, 16% in the magico-religious use category, 18% in the category of omen indication, and 2% each in the categories such as weather forecasting, trophy, ethnomusical and taboos.ConclusionsThe Tamang maintain strong ties with animals both at a material as well as spiritual level. While some animals are the sources of important traditional medicines, others are omen indicators and weather forecasters. High priority should be given in conservation of those animals which are of high consensus value to the community.

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The value and importance of indigenous knowledge are now being increasingly acknowledged all over the world. For this reason, the aims of this study is not only to identify the medicinal plants used for Therapeutic Turkish Baths by local people of various areas in Turkey, but also to draw attention to the traditional knowledge that is in danger of being lost. In this study, a total of 105 people from twenty-one provinces (N=5) were interviewed. Information was gathered through scientifically guided questionnaires, interviews and general conversations and fidelity level (FL) of species were determined. According to the results of the identification, 42 plants are being used to make Therapeutic Turkish Baths for medicinal purposes in Turkey. Among them 29 plants are wild and 13 plants are cultivated plants. Most used families were Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Malvaceae and Poaceae. The category that has the highest FL value is Cucumis sativus (100%) followed by Rosmarinus officinalis (93%). The lowest is Thymus vulgaris (32%). The data obtained from our informants and analyses in the present paper clearly show that folk knowledge on medicinal plants and plant uses is still alive in the studied region.

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