Wedson Souto

• Ph.D. in Zoology, M.Sc. in Development and Enviroment, Bachelor in Biological Sciences
• Professor at Federal University of Piauí

Background Bushmeat is a resource exploited by thousands of people around the world, especially in tropical and neotropical regions, constituting an important source of protein and income. But what is known, so far, about the consumption and trade of wild vertebrate meat (hereinafter “bushmeat”) in a megadiverse country like Brazil? This question w...

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Local people living in the Amazon rainforest rely heavily on wild meat as a source of protein and income. While the patterns and drivers of wildlife hunting and trade by local communities are well-known for upland forests, such aspects have been poorly explored in Amazonian floodplains. This study aims to describe wild meat hunting and trade patter...

en • Ingredients derived from wild mammals are widely used in traditional remedies. Large datasets of traits, geographic ranges, and phylogeny are also available for mammals. Therefore, mammals are an ideal group in which to explore the ecological (e.g. range size, body mass) and evolutionary (i.e. shared ancestry) correlates of the use of animal‐...

O objetivo do presente estudo foi identificar as principais espécies de caça e a dinâmica de caça em uma região de ecótono do Centro-Sul do Piauí (Regeneração), área com diversidade faunística e cultural, mas com alta vulnerabilidade socioeconômica. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas. A riqueza de espécies cinegéticas...

In addition to being a cultural activity, hunting practices in the Brazilian North eastern semi-arid region have implications for the conservation of many animal species. Wild mammals are used for different ends; however, their use as a food resource is the most common, and the by-products are used for other purposes. The aim of the present study w...

Illegal bird-keeping and pet trade are some of the major threats to Neotropical birds. The aim of the present study was to detail aspects of the use and trade of wild Passeriformes as pets in an ecotonal zone of Caatinga-Cerrado domains in middle-north of Brazil, a western subregion of northeastern (NE) Brazil which also is a road hub interconnecti...

Primates play an important role in many types of stories, fables, folk tales, myths, proverbs, legends, and religious and folk medicine beliefs. The inclusion of nonhuman primates in various cultural practices influences human interactions and attitudes toward those nonhuman primate species, with obvious implications for their conservation. This ch...

Although the use of wild mammals as a source of food has been better studied in tropical forest environments, their importance as a source of protein for human communities in semiarid environments is little known. In the latter, the availability of wild animal meat is limited in comparison to other environments. In the semiarid regions of northeast...

Human migration implies adaptations to new environments, such as ways to benefit from the available biodiversity. This study focused on the use of animal-derived remedies, and we investigated the effects of migration on the traditional medical system of the indigenous Truká people. This ethnic group lives in Northeast Brazil and is currently distri...

This research assessed the relationship between students’ perceptions and socioeconomic factors in urban and rural communities surrounding Atlantic rainforest protection areas in Pernambuco, Brazil. We tested whether the utilitarian concept of forests has a determining role in the student community’s perception of protected areas. The study was con...

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 traditi...

Humans in various cultures have feared snakes, provoking an aversion and persecution that hinders conservation efforts for these reptiles. Such fact suggests that conservation strategies for snakes should consider the interactions and perceptions of the local population towards these animals. The aim of this study was to investigate students' perce...

Aquatic mammals are medium- to large-sized animals, which have been the source of large amounts of subproducts—among which medicines—to humans since ancient times. They are also among the most threatened animal taxa worldwide. This chapter provides an overview of the global use of aquatic mammals in traditional folk medicine and the implications fo...

Medicinal animals are used as a source of medicine in virtually all cultures. Such use is not restricted to humans, but also extends to the treatment of livestock diseases. Nevertheless, animal-based medicines in ethnoveterinary practices have been neglected and poorly described. This work assesses the global use of animals in traditional veterinar...

Carnivores are among the mammal species most frequently used in traditional folk medicine around the world. Therefore, this chapter assesses the global use of carnivores in traditional folk medicine and its implications. Our review indicated that at least 108 species of carnivores are used in traditional medicine worldwide. Of the species in medici...

The utilization of birds as pets has been recognized as one of the principal threats to global avifauna. Most of the information about the use and sale of birds as pets has been limited to areas of high biodiversity and whose impacts of anthropic actions have been widely broadcast internationally, for example for the Amazon Forest and forest remnan...

The treatment of human and animal aliments by using drugs based on extracts obtained from animals, or ultimately derived from them, is known as zootherapy. Although this is a relatively common practice, studies on this subject are relatively scarce when compared to those that are focused on traditional plant-based medicines. In Brazil, 326 animals...

Throughout their history, humans have utilized animals in different ways, demonstrating their importance and reflecting attitudes of respect, admiration and affection. However, some attitudes related to control, exploitation, fear and aversion regarding wild animals have produced conflicts between human populations and nature. This conflict is of w...

The variety of interactions between human cultures and herpetofauna is the subject matter of Ethnoherpetology, a subdivision of Ethnozoology. In the semi-arid region of Brazil, many reptiles interact with human communities because of their utility or because of the risks they represent. These interactions have obvious implications for the conservat...

This work documents the zootherapeutic practices in Ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) of Pedra Lavrada (6°45'S, 36°28'W), Northeastern Brazil. We interviewed 23 people (22 men and 1 woman), who provided information on animal species used as remedies, body parts used to prepare the remedies, and illnesses for which the remedies were prescribed. We calc...

The present paper analyzes animal-based remedies used in ethnoveterinary medicine in a semi-arid area of Paraíba State (Caatinga biome) in NE Brazil. Information was obtained through semi-structured questionnaires applied to 32 local residents (24 men and 8 women) concerning animal species used as remedies, the body parts used, and the illnesses fo...

For many millennia humans and reptiles have interacted, but the attitude of humans towards these animals has depended on culture, environment, and personal experience. At least 719 reptile species are known to occur in Brazil and about 11% of this fauna has been exploited for many different purposes, including bushmeat, leather, ornamental and magi...

Zootherapy is important in various socio-cultural environments, and innumerous examples of the use of animal derived remedies can currently be found in many urban, semi-urban and more remote localities in all parts of the world, particularly in developing countries. However, although a number of ethnobiological inventories concerning the use of med...

Ancient connections between animals and human are seen in cultures throughout the world in multiple forms of interaction with the local fauna that form the core of Ethnozoology. Historically, ethnozoological publications grew out of studies undertaken in academic areas such as zoology, human ecology, sociology and anthropology--reflecting the inter...

The purpose of this study was to describe the local zootherapeutic practices in ethnoveterinay medicine of semi-arid of NE Brazil (Caatinga biome) and to contribute to future research about the validation of the effects and side effects of these animal products. In this sense, we sought to determine the connections between human and animal ethnopha...

Animals (and their derived products) are essential ingredients in the preparation of many traditional remedies. Despite its prevalence in traditional medical practices worldwide, research on medicinal animals has often been neglected in comparison to medicinal plant research. This work documents the medicinal animals used by a rural community in th...

The hunting of nine-banded (Dasypus novemcinctus) and six-banded (Euphractus sexcinctus) armadillo is a common practice in the semi-arid region of Brazil where predominates the Caatinga biome, of which these animals constitute important protein resource in local communities. In order to gain access to these resources, hunters have developed specifi...

The relationship between religion and health has been a subject of interest in the past and in the latest years becoming increasingly visible in the social, behavioral, and health sciences. Among several approaches to be considered, the present work provides a briefly discuss concerning the bond between health and religiosity in the cure process an...

Canids are among the mammal species most frequently used in traditional folk medicine around the world. In this context, this paper assesses the global use of canids in traditional folk medicine and their implications. Our review indicated that 19 species of canid are used in traditional medicine worldwide, representing 54.2% of described canid spe...

Information related to studies of the traditional ecological knowledgement has represented an important tool for studies of environmental conservation. Actually, the few conservation condition is a consequence from decades of non-exploitation of natural resources and sustainable development, that forced the public policies and researchers to recons...

Almost 50% of primate species are in danger of becoming extinct, according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. This is partly because of their consumption by humans. The reasons for hunting vary by region. One pretext is the medicinal or magical value of products derived from...

Dolphins are among the animal species most frequently used in traditional folk practices in different social-cultural contexts throughout Brazil. For conservation of wild species to be effective, both biological and social elements of the conservation process must be considered as a basis for minimizing threats. This is an overview of the tradition...

Felidae have had long and uneasy relationships with humans. Many of the world's wild cats are or becoming endangered species and one of the reasons is the use for traditional medicinal purposes. The present work provides an overview of the global usage of felines in traditional folk medicine around the world and the implications for its conservatio...

Estuary-mangrove complexes possess a rich natural capital and furnish diverse ecological services and natural resources to local coastal communities for both subsistence and economic ends. The present work presents an inventory of the uses of fishing resources at the Mamanguape River estuary, located in Paraiba State, Brazil. The inventory was prep...

The use of animal products in healing is an ancient and widespread cross-cultural practice. In northeastern Brazil, especially in the semi-arid region, animals and plants are widely used in traditional medicine and play significant roles in healing practices. Zootherapies form an integral part of these cultures, and information about animals is pas...

The present work addresses the use of zootherapy in folk veterinary medicine (ethnoveterinary) by the residents of the municipal district of Cubati, microregion of Seridó, Paraíba State, Brazil. It sought to identify the principal animals used as medicinal sources for zootherapeutics and to contribute to the preservation and sustainability of this...