Cultural Ethnozoology: A Comprehensive Review of Traditional Animal-Based Knowledge Systems

Abstract

Since the beginning of recorded history, faunal resources have been involved in many aspects of human life. Apart from their practical significance, animals have been acknowledged in various cultural contexts such as literature, music, art, religion and expressions of humans. A lower or higher pressure on the populations of exploited species is linked to the uses of animals and the methods by which they are exploited by humans, as well as to cultural aspects that govern interactions between people and animals. This can either reflect in the sustainable use of the exploited species or even contribute to their extinction. The field of ethnozoology, a subfield of ethnobiology that studies the knowledge that human societies have amassed about animals and their significance and applications, focuses on the variety of interactions that occur between humans and animals. Studies on ethnozoology can be very helpful in expanding our knowledge of the traditional, social, cultural, and economic roles that animals play. They play a major part in management and conservation in this setting. The primary forms of human-faunal interactions throughout history, their ecological ramifications, and the function of ethnozoology in animal conservation are reviewed in this work.