Survey of ethno-veterinary medicinal plants at selected Horro Gudurru Districts, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Plant remedies are still the most important in therapeutics of treat livestock diseases, though large knowledge of ethno medicinal plants is declining to deterioration due to the oral passage of herbal heritage verbally. The objective of the study was to identify and document ethno-veterinary medicinal plants. The study was carried out from January to July 2014 at selected Horro Gudurru districts of western Ethiopia. The study sites were selected purposefully based on the recommendations of elders and local authorities. Ethno-botanical data were collected using semi-structured interviews, field observations and group discussion. About 51 study participants were involved in this study during the study period. A total of 25 ethno-veterinary medicinal plant species belonging to 19 families were documented with details on their local name, family, habitat, their traditional preparation and mode of application. Solanaceae families constituted the highest proportion (16%) followed by Euphorbiaceae (12%). The informants reported that there were 14 known livestock diseases which are treated by traditional healers. Herbs (44%) were the most widely used followed by shrubs (32%). Oral route of administration (76%) was the most commonly used followed by topical (24%). About 78.4% of the plant taxa were available every time. Agricultural expansion (43.3%) has been found to be the first main threat followed by deforestation (21.2%). The study revealed that the traditional healers and some livestock owners had knowledge of medicinal plants used to treat livestock diseases. Hence, further research should be conducted to evaluate the efficacy and possible toxicity of the plants in the study area.

Ethnoveterinary survey of medicinal plants used for treatment of animal diseases in Ambo District of Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia

“…On the other hand, the number of medicinal plants reported by the current study is much higher as compared to gures reported by studies conducted in different districts of three neighboring zones of the Oromia Region, namely Horro Gudurru, Jimma and East Wollega zones [7,8,21]. Twenty eight medicinal plants were documented from East Wollega Zone [21], 25 medicinal plants were documented from Horro Gudurru [8], and 21, 20, 19 and 14 medicinal plants, were recorded from Manna, Dedo, Kersa and Seka Chekorsa districts of the Jimma Zone, respectively [7]. The fact that higher number of medicinal plants was reported from the study district as compared to some neighboring districts or zones could be attributed to the rich livestock population in the district as reported in Tamiru et al [14].…”

“…The common use of herbaceous plants in the study District in the preparation of remedies could be attributed to the better abundance of the same as compared to other life forms as was also observed by the investigators of the study during their visits to the study area. The common use of herbs was also reported by other ethnoveterinary studies carried out in Midakegn District of West Shewa Zone [12] and some districts of Horro Gudurru [8] and East Wollega [21] zones. The use of high number of medicinal plants for the treatment of gastro-intestinal complaints could be an indication of high prevalence of this ailment category in the study District.…”

“…The number of medicinal plants (55 species) documented from Ambo District that were used to manage several livestock ailments is comparable to a gure reported by a study conducted in Midakegn District of West Shoa Zone, to which also Ambo District belongs, which revealed the use of 60 medicinal plants to treat different livestock ailments [12]. On the other hand, the number of medicinal plants reported by the current study is much higher as compared to gures reported by studies conducted in different districts of three neighboring zones of the Oromia Region, namely Horro Gudurru, Jimma and East Wollega zones [7,8,21]. Twenty eight medicinal plants were documented from East Wollega Zone [21], 25 medicinal plants were documented from Horro Gudurru [8], and 21, 20, 19 and 14 medicinal plants, were recorded from Manna, Dedo, Kersa and Seka Chekorsa districts of the Jimma Zone, respectively [7].…”

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal and edible plants of Yalo Woreda in Afar regional state, Ethiopia

“…Giday and Teklehaymanot [9] reported seventeen plant species in Ada’ar District, Afar Regional State; Gradé [58] reported seventeen plant species in pastoral Karamoja, Northern Uganda; Dharani [103] reported 10 plant species in East Africa and Sori [104] reported ten plant species in Borana Pastoralists, Southern Ethiopia [9, 13, 17, 20, 22, 25, 35, 41, 44, 51, 55, 69, 71, 79, 81]. The number of ethnoveterinary plants reported in Yalo woreda is more than many studies conducted in Ethiopia [30, 53, 55, 60, 70, 72–74, 87, 104–109] even though studies undertaken in some societies reported a higher number of ethnoveterinary plants [9, 43, 77, 104, 110, 111]. It indicates the rich knowledge of ethnoveterinary important plants in the study area since the people are highly dependent on the animals for their living [43, 58, 60, 69, 70, 104].…”

“…The number of ethnoveterinary plants reported in Yalo woreda is more than many studies conducted in Ethiopia [30, 53, 55, 60, 70, 72–74, 87, 104–109] even though studies undertaken in some societies reported a higher number of ethnoveterinary plants [9, 43, 77, 104, 110, 111]. It indicates the rich knowledge of ethnoveterinary important plants in the study area since the people are highly dependent on the animals for their living [43, 58, 60, 69, 70, 104]. The Afar people seasonally migrates in search of grazing and water for their animals and utilize plants from the natural vegetation to treat animal’s illness through trial and error that profoundly contributed to the knowledge of individual herders.…”