MSc

Humans have known about ethnobiological uses since ancient times and rely
on fauna and flora for medicines, food, clothing, and other necessities of life. For
their basic health-care needs, the world population is looking for an alternative
medication generated from natural resources, and this natural alternative, which
consists of various bioactive chemicals, may be more effective with less toxicity
than manufactured pharmaceuticals. The Western Ghats are home to a diverse range
of fauna and flora, with plant-based medicines accounting for the majority of
natural medicines discovered thus far. Animal medicines, on the other hand, have a
restricted number of references. Rural communities, who have acquired millennium
old traditional wisdom from their predecessors and handed it down through
generations, are crucial in disease management. Poverty and a scarcity of medical
facilities are to blame, they rely mainly on traditional knowledge, hence This
knowledge is only available in rural regions. Before it is depleted as a result of
rising urbanisation, modernization, and industry, traditional plant and
animal recipes must be recorded. It is critical to document particular human
societies' plant and animal usage that are passed down through the generations in
undiscovered areas. Furthermore, with the growing threat of microorganism
resistance to existing allopathic medications, novel natural chemical combinations
with synergistic or additive effects are desperately needed. As a result, the project
was designed with the goals of 1) analysing and documenting indigenous people's
ethnozoological knowledge in Kerala's Idukki area. 2) additionally, document the
creation and use of medications derived from animals and animal products, and 3)
quantitative indices are used to determine the highly desired ones. This might be
the first investigation in the specific location to describe traditionally used
medicinal fauna and its recipes. The findings of the study might help preserve
traditional knowledge and identify new taxa as a potential source of adjunct to
conventional medicine.
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The outcomes of the reseaech followed imply that local populations in Idukki
have a good understanding of how to make ethnomedicine out of faunal diversity
based on what's available. This research preserves ethnobiological data while also
laying the groundwork for pharmacological, phytochemical, and synergistic
research. People employ animal products/parts either alone or in combination with
other things to treat a variety of human diseases. The findings also reveal that
ethnomedicine is an important part of the primary health care system in the research
area, but that it is mostly centred on flora rather than fauna. The animal recipes offer
new perspectives on drug research that, through synergistic mechanisms, may pave
the way for the development of new and effective therapies. Traditional knowledge
is rapidly fading; hence scholars are being encouraged to perform further study in
this region so that it may be preserved and documented.