Available online 23 April 2015
Ethnoveterinary plants for the treatment of camels in Shiwalik regions of Kathua district of Jammu & Kashmir, India
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
Camel
is an important mode of transportation in the hot and hilly tracts of
Shiwaliks of Kathua districts. The camel owners of the region lack the
modern veterinary facilities and therefore depend heavily upon local
treatments for the animal. This ethnoveterinary knowledge of plants is
acquired by them from their forefathers and generally moves from one
generation to another orally. The oral mode of transferring this
valuable knowledge is vulnerable to erosion with the passage of time and
generations.
Material and methods
Ethnoveterinary
information was collected by interviewing 38 camel keepers and
traditional healers as per the questionnaire. The data collected was
analysed quantitatively using three indices viz. use–value (UV),
informant consensus factor (ICF), and fidelity level (Fl %).
Results
A
total of 41 plants were found to be of ethnoveterinary importance in
the present study. Herbs and trees (41.5% each) were the most used life
forms. The most used plant part was fruit (27.9%). Rhizome, root and
whole plant parts collectively contributed to 18.6%. Most of the
ethnoveterinary practices (65.9%) used oral mode of medication. The
values of UV and Fl (%) shows that the most important species for curing
the ailing camels were Curcuma longa, Trachyspermum ammi, Brassica campestris, Tamarindus indica, Phyllanthus emblica, Cassia fistula, Eruca sativa, Plumbago zeylanica
etc. The high values of ICF (0.91–0.99) show that the informants share
the knowledge for the treatment of camels amongst themselves on regular
basis.
Conclusion
A good number
of plants are utilized by the informants to cure camels. Most of the
preparations used fruits and leaves. Only 18.6% of the practices
required destructive collection and such species need sustainable use
and conservation. Some of the species like Tamarindus indica, Cassia fistula, Eruca sativa, Albizia lebbeck and Citrus medica require further phytochemical and pharmacological studies.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Camel;
- Ethnoveterinary;
- Fidelity level;
- Informant consensus factor;
- Shiwaliks;
- Use–value
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