Ethnozoology: A Brief Introduction

Abstract

Connections between animals and humans date back thousands of years, and cultures all over the world have developed characteristic ways of interacting with the regional fauna over time. Human communities have accumulated a huge store of knowledge about animals through the centuries (passed from generation to generation, largely through oral traditions) that is closely integrated with many other cultural aspects, and this zoological knowledge is an important part of our human cultural heritage. The variety of interactions (both past and present) that human cultures maintain with animals is the subject matter of Ethnozoology, a discipline that has its roots as deep within the past as the first relationships between humans and other animals. Within this context, ethnozoology can be viewed as a discipline that examines the historical, economic, sociological, anthropological and environmental aspects of the relationships between humans and animals. These studies can aid in the evaluation of the impacts human populations have on native animal species and in the development of sustainable management plans - and are thus fundamental to conservation efforts. Additionally, popular knowledge about the regional fauna can be important to academic research projects and offers the possibility of significant savings in comparison to the costs involved with conventional methodologies. The present work gives a brief introduction to Ethnozoology, focusing its importance, historic aspects and current trends.

The role of game mammals as bushmeat In the Caatinga, northeast Brazil

“…Whatever the reasons for hunting may be, overexploitation of wildlife in the Caatinga is a real threat to the ecoregion's biodiversity (Leal et al 2005a, FernandesFerreira et al 2012; numerous species, particularly mammals, are threatened with extinction . In this scenario, the importance of ethnozoological studies is clearly evident (Alves and Souto 2015).…”

Depletion of trophy large-sized sharks populations of the Argentinean coast, south-western Atlantic: insights from fishers' knowledge

“…On the last decades, the relevance of ethnozoology research for biodiversity management and conservation has increasingly been recognized (Alves, 2012;Alves & Souto, 2015;Fischer et al 2015). Currently, the ethnoichtiology is widely used as a tool to infer about the conservation status of fishes (e.g.…”

Ethnozoology as Complementary Method to Inventory Medium and Large-Bodied Mammals: The Case Study of Serra Do Ouro Branco, Brazil

“…This study indicated that local people knows more about mammals with which they coexist either through conflict, admiration, fear, economic or food interests (Pinto et al 2012(Pinto et al , 2015. In addition, other ethnozoological studies revealed great interest by mammals as target for hunting (Alves et al 2012, Vliet et al 2014, Alves & Souto 2015, Alves et al 2016.…”

“…Access the knowledge from the resident human population is considered a fast and low-cost alternative that might increase the speed and efficiency of the mammal fauna inventories (Rocha-Mendes et al 2005, Hanazaki et al 2009, Souza & Alves 2014, Vliet et al 2014. Furthermore, the communication between researchers and the local populations have been used to address conservation efforts (Alves & Souto 2015). The local knowledge can be accessed through the Ethnozoology, an interdisciplinary science that evaluates knowledge, beliefs and behavior of human population in relation to other species of animals (Alves & Souto 2015).…”

“…Furthermore, the communication between researchers and the local populations have been used to address conservation efforts (Alves & Souto 2015). The local knowledge can be accessed through the Ethnozoology, an interdisciplinary science that evaluates knowledge, beliefs and behavior of human population in relation to other species of animals (Alves & Souto 2015).…”