Ethnopharmacological uses of fauna among the people of central Punjab, Pakistan

Abdul Majid Khan; Muhammad Altaf; Tanveer Hussain; M Haroon Hamed; Umaira Safdar; Amina Ayub; Zaibun-Nisa Memon; Adnan Hafiz; Sana Ashraf; Muhammad Shoaib Amjad; Muhammad Majeed; Musheerul Hassan; Rainer W Bussmann; Arshad Mahmood Abbasi; Mohamed Al-Yafrsi; Hosam O Elansary; Eman A Mahmoud

doi:10.3389/fvets.2024.1351693

Ethnopharmacological uses of fauna among the people of central Punjab, Pakistan

Front Vet Sci. 2024 Apr 12:11:1351693. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1351693. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Abdul Majid Khan^#¹, Muhammad Altaf^#², Tanveer Hussain², M Haroon Hamed³, Umaira Safdar¹, Amina Ayub⁴, Zaibun-Nisa Memon⁵, Adnan Hafiz⁶, Sana Ashraf⁷, Muhammad Shoaib Amjad⁸, Muhammad Majeed⁹, Musheerul Hassan^{10

11}, Rainer W Bussmann^{10

12}, Arshad Mahmood Abbasi¹³, Mohamed Al-Yafrsi¹⁴, Hosam O Elansary¹⁴, Eman A Mahmoud¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
² Institute of Forest Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
³ Department of Zoology Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Zoology, Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Zoology, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan.
⁶ Department of Zoology, University of Sialkot, Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan.
⁷ Department of Zoology, University of Lahore, Sargodha, Pakistan.
⁸ Department of Botany, Women University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Bagh, Bagh, Pakistan.
⁹ Department of Botany, University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan.
¹⁰ Department of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
¹¹ Alpine Institute of Management and Technology, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.
¹² Staatliches Museum Für Naturkunde, Karlsruhe, Germany.
¹³ Department of Environment Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad, Pakistan.
¹⁴ Department of Plant Production, College of Food & Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁵ Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Damietta University, Damietta, Egypt.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Introduction: The utilization of fauna and fauna-based byproducts in ethnomedicinal usages has been a longstanding human activity, practiced across various cultures worldwide. This study focuses on investigating the utilization of animal-based traditional medicine by the people of Pakistan, specifically in the Gujranwala area.

Methods: Data collection took place from January to September 2019 through interviews with local communities. Ethnomedicinal applications of animal products were analyzed using several indices, including Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Relative Popularity Level (RPL), Folk Use Value (FL), and Relative Occurrence Percentage (ROP).

Results: The study identified the use of different body parts of 54 species of animals in treating various diseases and health issues. These include but are not limited to skin infections, sexual problems, pain management (e.g., in the backbone and joints), eyesight issues, immunity enhancement, cold, weakness, burns, smallpox, wounds, poisoning, muscular pain, arthritis, diabetes, fever, epilepsy, allergies, asthma, herpes, ear pain, paralysis, cough, swelling, cancer, bronchitis, girls' maturity, and stomach-related problems. Certain species of fauna were noted by informers with high "frequency of citation" (FC), ranging from 1 to 77. For instance, the black cobra was the most frequently cited animal for eyesight issues (FC = 77), followed by the domestic rabbit for burn treatment (FC = 67), and the Indus Valley spiny-tailed ground lizard for sexual problems (FC = 66). Passer domesticus and Gallus gallus were noted to have the highest ROP value of 99.

Discussion: The findings of this study provide valuable preliminary insights for the conservation of fauna in the Gujranwala region of Punjab, Pakistan. Additionally, screening these animals for medicinally active compounds could potentially lead to the development of novel animal-based medications, contributing to both traditional medicine preservation and modern pharmaceutical advancements.

Keywords: Gujranwala; animals; communities; ethnomedicine; ethnozoology; zootherapy.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Research and Innovations “Ministry of Education” in Saudi Arabia (IFKSUOR3-095-6).