Ethnoveterinary wisdom of the tribes of Purulia district, West Bengal, India

Abstract

The ethnoveterinary practices are traditional community based indigenous knowledge which are still being followed by indigenous peoples in their day to day life. The knowledge is mainly transferred by word of mouth from one generation to the other. The present paper deals with different ethnoveterinary medicinal uses of various plants and their extracts for curing various animal diseases by indigenous tribes of Purulia district of West Bengal. Mainly the knowledge of people belonging to various ethnic groups like Shikari, Munda, Pator, Sardar, Bhumij, Shabar, etc., were interviewed and documented. Altogether thirty one different plant species were found to be ethnoveterinary important belonging to different families, majority being Apocyanaceae, Poaceae and Verbenaceae. Various parts such as. stem, flowers, bark, latex, roots, seeds, leaves, rhizomes, etc., were used to cure various animals with common diseases like diarrhoea to those having serious diseases. Hence, documentation of this traditional knowledge will help to treat common animal diseases and opens an avenue for further research.