ArticleJournal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine2014
Ethnomedicinal use of African pangolins by traditional medical practitioners in Sierra Leone.
Article in Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Environmental Bridgebuilding: Connecting People Through Nature Conservation. The Example of the Barn Owl.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Animals traded for traditional medicine in Ghana: their zootherapeutic uses and implications for biodiversity conservation.Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2025Article
- Conservation genetics of the white-bellied pangolin in West Africa: A story of lineage admixture, declining demography, and wide sourcing by urban bushmeat markets.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Human parainfluenza 3 and respiratory syncytial viruses detected in pangolins.Emerging microbes & infections · 2022Article
- Ethnozoological and commercial drivers of the pangolin trade in Benin.Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2021Article
- Baby pangolins on my plate: possible lessons to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2020Article
- Inferring the molecular affinity of Indian pangolin with extant Manidae species based on mitochondrial genes: a wildlife forensic perspective.Mitochondrial DNA. Part B, Resources · 2018Article
- Mitochondrial genomes of African pangolins and insights into evolutionary patterns and phylogeny of the family Manidae.BMC genomics · 2017Article
- Knowledge and uses of African pangolins as a source of traditional medicine in Ghana.PloS one · 2015Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundPangolins (Manidae) have long been used for traditional medicinal purposes in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. However, very little is known about the extent of this use, the body parts that are used and the ailments these practices are attempting to cure or alleviate. Pangolin body parts are used extensively and frequently by traditional medical practitioners in Sierra Leone.
methodsA total of 63 traditional medical practitioners consented and were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires on the traditional medicinal use of pangolin body parts. The use value, informant agreement ratio and use agreement value for each pangolin part was calculated to ascertain the most sought after body part, the level of knowledge dissemination among traditional medical practitioners about body parts and the most culturally significant body part.
resultsIt was found that 22 pangolin parts are used to treat various ailments and conditions under 17 international categories of diseases. The highest use value was recorded for scales while eyes had the highest level of consensus among the traditional medical practitioners. The highest use value and informant agreement ratio for scales were recorded for spiritual ailments. Scales were the most culturally significant body part according to the use agreement value.
conclusionThis study indicates a high importance value for pangolins as part of these communities' spiritual, cultural and medicinal beliefs. However, the numbers of individuals harvested from the wild remains unknown and unregulated even though pangolins have been listed under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Conservation Act, 1972, of Sierra Leone, which prohibits any person from hunting or being in possession of pangolins. It is likely that this unregulated harvesting and poaching of this threatened species, for medicinal purposes, is unsustainable and there is an urgent need to determine pangolin population abundance within this region to ensure their sustainable harvesting for cultural use and conservation.
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