Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39090682›Full record

ArticleJournal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine2024

Ethnozoological study of medicinal animals used by the inhabitants of the Kucha District, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia.

Meselech Mengistu, Mulugeta Kebebew, Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow

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Article in Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Meselech MengistuDepartment of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Arba Minch University, 4400, Arba Minch Zuria, Ethiopia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-3603-7984
Mulugeta KebebewDepartment of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Arba Minch University, 4400, Arba Minch Zuria, Ethiopia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5078-032X
Victor Benno Meyer-RochowDepartment of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland. meyrow@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1531-9244

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAn ethnozoological study of medicinal animals in the Kucha district, Gamo zone, Southern Ethiopia, was conducted to investigate and document the use of traditional medicinal animals and the associated indigenous knowledge. Tribal people still make abundant use of animals and their parts to manage diseases in humans and even livestock.

methodA cross sectional study design and purposively sampling techniques were used. Data were collected from 132 respondents based on semi structured questionnaires. Focus group discussions (FGD) and Key informant interviews (KII) were conducted; Fidelity level (FL), Relative frequency of citation (RFC) and Informants' consensus factor (ICF) were used to analyze species preference and importance.

resultsA total of 24 medicinal animals were identified with 13 species (54.2%) being mammals of which 5 species (20.8%) dominated. They were followed by arthropods, reptiles and fishes. Seven out of the total were domestic species (29%) and 17 (70%) were wild animals. The majority of these animals, i.e. 22 (91.7%), were used to treat human ailments; whereas 2 (8.3%) were used to treat livestock ailments. The ICF values varied from 0.8 to 1.The highest FL value (98%) was linked to the cow (cattle), the lowest (1.5%) to the scorpion. The RFC value (1.0) was highest for the cow and lowest (0.02) for the scorpion. Honey, milk, and butter were the most commonly used therapeutic animal products, but regarding direct uses, fresh/raw meat dominated. Out of ten ailment categories, headaches had the lowest ICF value (0.8). All others scored at least 0.9.

conclusionsIn rural areas, sick people often do not only have limited access to modern medical facilities, they actually prefer traditional treatments considering them to be more reliable and effective. It is therefore important to focus on documenting, conserving, and safeguarding the indigenous knowledge so that strategies to manage the traditional wisdom can be implemented in the future. To achieve these goals, it is important to make sure that medicinal animal species are available in sufficient numbers and neither threatened by habitat changes or overexploitation.

Indexed as

Medicine, African TraditionalAdultAgedAnimalsAnimals, WildCross-Sectional StudiesEthiopiaFemaleHumansLivestockMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultEthnozoologyFidelity levelIndigenous knowledgeInformant consensus factorMedicinal animalsRelative frequency of citationTraditional remedies

Identifiers

PMID39090682
PMCPMC11295582

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LicenceCC BY
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.