Commercialization and use of snakes in North and Northeastern Brazil: implications for conservation and management

Reptiles used in traditional folk medicine: conservation implications

“…The sources analyzed were: Branch and Silva (1983), Begossi (1992), Begossi and Braga (1992), Donadio and Gallardo (1984), Figueiredo (1994), China National Corporation of Traditional and Herbal Medicine (1995), Marques (1995), Freire (1996), Costa-Neto (1996, 1999a, b, c, d, 2000a, b, c, 2001, SEMARNAP-PROFEPA (1998), Begossi et al (1999), Sodeinde and Soewu (1999), Chen et al (2000), El-Kamali (2000), Seixas and Begossi (2001), Almeida and Albuquerque (2002), CITES (2002), Kakati and Doulo (2002), Apaza et al (2003), Lev (2003), Fitzgerald et al (2004), Silva et al (2004), Almeida (2005), Andrade and Costa-Neto (2005), Costa-Neto and Pacheco (2005), Smart et al (2005), Walston (2005), Alakbarli (2006), Alves (2006), Alves andRosa (2006, 2007b, c), 1 C Alves et al (2007a, b), Ives (2006), Kakati et al (2006), Mahawar andJaroli (2006), Vázquez et al (2006), Alves and Pereira-Filho (2007), Barzyk (2007), Dharmananda (2007a,b), El Din (2007, Negi andPa...…”

“…The commercialization of reptiles for medicinal purposes has been reported from many parts of the world (e.g., Franke and Telecky 2001;Fitzgerald et al 2004;Zhou and Jiang 2004;Alves and Pereira-Filho 2007). In several Brazilian cities, for example, snakes are widely traded in outdoor markets (that can even have designated stalls for medicinal animals and plants) or in small stores speciWcally dedicated to this activity (Alves and PereiraFilho 2007;Alves and Rosa 2007c;).…”

“…Popular beliefs usually aVect the way species are used in zootherapy (Alves and Rosa 2006). One form of spiritual treatment involves the use of amulets containing reptile parts to protect the user from the "evil-eye" or from diseases (Alves and Pereira-Filho 2007). An example is caiman teeth (C. latirostris, M. niger, and P. palpebrosus) used as protection against snake bites.…”

“…Reptiles are among the animal species most frequently used in traditional folk medicine, and their role in folk practices related to the healing and/or prevention of illnesses has been recorded in diVerent social-cultural contexts throughout the world (Zhou and Jiang 2004;Alves andRosa 2006, 2007b, c;Mahawar and Jaroli 2006;Vazquez et al 2006;Alves and Pereira-Filho 2007).…”

“…Despite the intensive use of reptiles for medicinal purposes, there is a general lack of detailed information concerning the magnitude of this harvesting and its impact on the species involved (Alves and Pereira-Filho 2007). Demands on the wild sources of traditional medicinal products are increasing as human populations grow inexorably and poorer countries are forced to decrease spending per capita on western health systems, while western populations are turning to more traditional and homeopathic products and the demand for natural remedies is increasing among them (IUCN 2000).…”