Traditional Usage of Wild Fauna among the Local Inhabitants of Ladakh, Trans-Himalayan Region

Abstract

Zootherapy is accepted all around the globe not only in ancient cultures but different animal derived medicines are also part of the practice in the modern health care systems. The present study assessed the traditional ethnozoological usage of wild animals by local inhabitants in Ladakh region, India, and the reference data for scientific approaches for protection of faunal diversity in trans-Himalayas. The ethnozoological documentation of the animals in Ladakh was carried out through semistructured and close-ended questionnaire surveys and interviews. Multivariate ecological community analysis was used to elucidate the relationship between ethnozoological usage and animal species. Our results showed three animal usage clusters with 32% similarity. Moreover, the similarity in animal usage between digging tools, trophy, handle of tools, decoration, and matting, showed less than 32% of similarity. The highest priority of local people was for food followed by decoration and medicinal usage. The most frequently used animal parts were meat followed by fur and horn. Medicinal uses of 48% of the reported species, i.e., Alectoris chukar (chukar), Cuon alpinus (Asiatic wild dog), Lepus oiostolus (hares), Marmota himalayana (marmots), Ovis aries vignei (Ladakh urial), Pantholops hodgsonii (Tibetan antelope), Procapra picticaudata (Tibetan gazelle), Pseudois nayaur (blue sheep), Tetraogallus himalayensis (Himalayan snow), Tetraogallus tibetanus (Tibetan snow cock), and Lutra lutra (common otter) were reported for the first time from this region. Our study provides innovative information regarding the ethnozoological knowledge in the Ladakh region and reference data for policymakers, researchers, land managers, common public, and the other stakeholders to develop logical and scientific approaches for sustainable use of faunal diversity in hotspot regions like trans-Himalayas and other similar biodiversity-rich sites.

Ethnopharmacology and phenology of high-altitude medicinal plants in Kashmir, Northern Himalaya

“…reported traditional uses of 38 plants from district Bhimber Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The results were similar to earlier findings(Haq et al 2019;Umair et al 2019;Haq et al 2021a), however, the number of plant species in our study was lower thanHaq et al (2020a) who reported the traditional use of 57 plant species from Kashmir Himalaya, India Gairola et al (2014). reported a total of 948 plant taxa (923 angiosperms, 12 gymnosperms and 13 pteridophytes) belonging to 129 families, 509 genera, 937 species and 11 varieties to have a traditional medicinal use by indigenous communities of Western Himalayan region in his review.…”

“…The study was carried out in 2019-20. Field surveys were conducted frequently in different seasons following standard protocols (Haq et al 2020a). The ethnopharmacological data was collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews and discussions, after obtaining prior informed consent form the participants (Asif et al 2021).…”

Plant Resources Utilization among Different Ethnic Groups of Ladakh in Trans-Himalayan Region

“…The main objectives of the fieldwork were (1) to gain an in-depth understanding of ethnomedicinal, cultural, and ritual perspectives of plant diversity in the Ladakh region and (2) to evaluate how the wild flora of Ladakh could boost up livelihood and food security and support in poverty alleviation. Various studies have reported medicinal and other ethno uses of plants from Ladakh [ 14 , 15 ]; however, the local population in our study area (Balti, Beda, and Brokpa) has never participated in an ethnobotanical study.…”

„Ad aspera ad astra – 40 Jahre (Ethno-)Botanik“: Ein Interview mit Rainer W. Bussmann, ERA Co-Editor in Chief

“…Die produktivste Zusammenarbeit in Ethnobotanik habe ich jedoch sicherlich in Pakistan, das in weniger als einem Jahrzehnt zu einem der am besten erforschten Länder der Welt in Bezug auf ethnobotanische Studien geworden ist, was das große Engagement pakistanischer Kollegen zeigt (Abbas et al 2019, Abbasi & Bussmann 2021,b, Ali et al 2019, Ali Shah et al 2021, Amjad et 2021, Asmat et al 2021, Bibi et al 2021, Dutta et al 2021, Haq et al 2020, Harun et al 2022, Husain et al 2022, Jan et al 2019,b,c, Majeed et al 2020, Malik et al 2018, Muhammad et al 2019, Sher et al 2015, Singh et al 2019a,b, Umair et al 2019, Ur-Rahman et al 2018a,b,c, 2020,b,c, 2022, Wali et al 2019a. Und natürlich habe ich mich auch in China an ethnobotanischen Forschung beteiligt (Liu et al 2016, Ma et al 2019a.…”