Abstract
Cultural and ritual uses of animals beyond those for food and medicine should not be dismissed if we wish to understand the pressure that wildlife is under. We documented such uses for the Tangsa and Wancho tribals of Eastern Arunachal Pradesh (India). Group discussions with assembled members of 10 accessible villages in each of the tribal areas were carried out in 2015 and 2016. Vernacular names of culturally important species were noted and details of hunting practices were recorded. The different uses of animals and their parts during rituals and festivals and their significance in decorations and adornments, in supernatural beliefs and in connection with tribal folklore (stories) are documented. Folklore helps us understand why some species are hunted and consumed while others for no apparent reason are killed or simply ignored. Similarities as well as differences between the two tribes were recorded and possible reasons for the differences are given. The roles that the government as well as the tribal leaders play to halt or slow down the erosion and gradual disappearance of traditions that define the two cultures without losing already rare and endangered species are highlighted.
Highlights
The Earth faces a biodiversity crisis, with current rates of species extinction that are between 1000 and 10,000 times higher than the background rate [1]
It can be difficult to resolve such conflicts where they relate to the traditional uses of wildlife by indigenous peoples, as the cultural practices of such peoples are often not well understood by conservationists or by government agencies tasked with conserving wildlife [3,4,5,6]
Animals Associated with Indigenous Hunting Systems of Animals and Commercialization
Summary
The Earth faces a biodiversity crisis, with current rates of species extinction that are between 1000 and 10,000 times higher than the background rate [1]. Conflicts can emerge between the conservation of biodiversity and the uses of wildlife by people. It can be difficult to resolve such conflicts where they relate to the traditional uses of wildlife by indigenous peoples, as the cultural practices of such peoples are often not well understood by conservationists or by government agencies tasked with conserving wildlife [3,4,5,6]. There is a need to understand the uses of animals, including ritual and cultural uses beyond food and medicine, by tribes living in biodiversity hotspots. Such local knowledge, as well as being important cultural knowledge in its own right, is often overlooked by conservation
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