Ethnozoological study of wild vertebrates of the Bonifacio Garcia community, Morelos, Mexico

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the ethnozoological knowledge that the inhabitants of the Bonifacio García community, Morelos, Mexico, conserve about wild vertebrate. Semi-structured interviews were applied to 30 key informants, through participant observation and guided tours, traces such as footprints, excreta, burrows and pelts and in vivo observation were researched for the identification of the mentioned species and the following indexes were calculated: value of diversity of use for each species (VDS) and of medicinal uses (DVM), as well as the diversity index of the treated diseases (DITD). The study recorded a total of 42 wild vertebrate species, of these 28 are used: mammals 39.3%, birds 32%, reptiles 18%, fish 7.1% and amphibia 3.6%. The main use values were alimentary (0.54), medicinal (0.46) and ornamental (0.43). The white-tailed deer, the black iguana and the rattlesnake registered 0.57 of VDS and a DVM of 0.19. The main diseases treated are cancer, respiratory and skin diseases and rheumatism with an DITD of 0.17. The animals are obtained by means of subsistence hunting in the fields (50%), croplands (43%) and backyards (7%), using most frequently shotguns as arms for capture. We conclude that the appropriation of vertebrates complements basic needs for food and health; therefore, ethnozoological knowledge must be integrated into public policies that enable the conservation and management of wild fauna in the community.

Knowledge, use and traditional management of wildlife in the community of Zoquital, Morelos, Mexico

“…Mammals were the taxonomic group that contributed the most species with use, followed by birds and reptiles. Similar results are reported by Asprilla and Díaz (2020) in Colombia, Tamburini (2016) in Argentina, García et al (2020) in Morelos, Mexico and Contreras and Yánguez (2017) in Panama.…”

“…The community harvests 22 species of wildlife for different uses, which in order of importance are food (68%), medicine (45%), ornaments (18%), amulets (9%), furs (9%) and agricultural tools (4.5%). The number of species with use and sale is low when compared to other localities in the country such as Aguascalientes (Amador and De la Riva 2016), Campeche (Méndez and Montiel 2007) Chiapas (Gotoo 2016), Guerrero (Zavala et al 2018), Morelos (García 2008;Monroy et al 2008;Monroy and García 2013;García et al 2020), Quintana Roo (Quijano and Calmé 2002) and the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán valley (Zarazúa et al 2020), this may be due to two reasons: 1) 74% of the interviewees are neighborhood and when facing new conditions in their environment they have had to appropriate their territory (Arévalo 2016) by obtaining species through learning acquired locally or transmitted by parents and/or grandparents; and 2) the lack of economic resources within the community propitiates the father of the family to seek better job opportunities such as salaried work in the municipal capital or abroad, leaving the housewife in charge of the family and who does not go hunting, modifying the temporary or permanent organization of the family unit, a characteristic habit for Morelos farmers (Guzmán and León 2014).…”

“…The bush is the main space where appropriation takes place, as it is the natural environment inhabited by the species. López et al (2018) identified 11 hunting spaces in Guerrero, which indicates that the inhabitants travel long distances and possess knowledge of their environment that allows them to obtain bush meat (Aldana et al 2016;Tamburini et al 2016;Estrada et al 2018;López et al 2018;García et al 2020).…”

“…For example, the price referred to by the interviewees for O. virginianus was approximately $5,000.00 per animal, compared to $32.41 for the birds, which was calculated based on the average time invested in capturing them. The practical and economic value was obtained from the species that were recorded during the study period, and only the animals referred to by the participating families were taken into account; however, O. virginianus was the most culturally, practically and economically important species for the inhabitants of Zoquital, as has been documented for communities in central, southern and southeastern Mexico (Velarde and Cruz 2015;Ramírez-Mella et al 2016;Estrada et al 2018;López et al 2018;Retana and Padilla 2018;García et al 2020;Montiel 2010).…”