IDACOR   23984
INSTITUTO DE ANTROPOLOGIA DE CORDOBA
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Use of fauna in the traditional medicine of native Toba (qom) from the Argentine Gran Chaco region: an ethnozoological and conservationist approach
Autor/es:
MARTÍNEZ, GUSTAVO J.
Revista:
Ethnobiology and Conservation
Editorial:
BioMed Central
Referencias:
Año: 2013 vol. 2 p. 1 - 43
ISSN:
2238-4782
Resumen:
The Gran Chaco region is an area of
vast cultural and biological richness, that is inhabited by different American
indigenous hunter-gatherer groups and has a great number of threatened wildlife
species. An ethnozoological investigation was carried out to study the
medicinal uses of fauna by the Toba (qom) communities of Central Chaco in the
surroundings of the river Bermejito. Qualitative, quantitative and
participative methods were used alternately to document and characterize the
knowledge, significance and role of animals from the Chaco forest within the
Toba cultural and medical context. A total of 199 uses corresponding to 72
species belonging to 52 families were documented as part of the animal
pharmacopoeia employed by the natives. Information obtained by open and
semistructured interviews was used to develop an Index of Local Conservation
Priorities (ILCP) that allowed ordering the species according to their Relative
Importance, Ecological and Cultural Value, and Conservation Status. Our results
showed that of the wide range of species used in Toba zootherapy, a substantial
number of reptiles, mammals and birds are included in lists of threatened
species for Argentina. The ethnozoological perspective of this study provides
an integral view of social and ecological elements that are useful for the
protection and/or sustainable management of native species on a regional scale.