Traditional Animal-Based Medicines Practiced by the Indigenous Tribes of Surguja, Chhattisgarh, India

Introduction: The proposed study is an attempt to document and evaluate the quantitative indexes of the medicinally essential animals traditionally consumed by Oraon and Nagesia communities of Surguja, Chhattisgarh, India. This is a firsthand ethnozoological report from Surguja, Chhattisgarh; the information regarding the medicinal animals/animal products was documented and subjected to quantitative analysis. Methods: Data was collected following semi-structured interviews from 173 informants through the snowball technique, and reported diseases were classified into 10 categories. Seven quantitative indexes, such as Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Informant Consensus Factor (IFC), Fidelity Level (FL), and Jaccard Index (JI), were determined to analyze the therapeutic value of reported animal species. Results: Twenty-five animal species belonging to 8 taxonomic groups were documented to be used by Oraon and Nagesia communities in Surguja, Chhattisgarh. The highest IFC value (1.0) was reported for diseases of the circulatory, genitourinary, and musculoskeletal systems, followed by Tissue damage (0.99), Skin-related disease (0.98), Diseases during the postpartum period (0.98), and Diseases of the respiratory system (0.97). Aporrectodea caliginosa and Lumbricus terrestris scored the highest FL (100%) for the postpartum period-associated diseases; Python also had the highest FL for diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue. Discussion: The same species of animals have been documented as being used for the treatment of multiple medical conditions and have also been observed across various geographical regions globally. Conclusion: The present study reveals that the Oraon and Nagesia tribes possess valuable traditional knowledge, and the present research will prevent the gradual loss of conventional culture that constitutes the legacy of the tribal healthcare system. The scientific validation reported in the present study will provide unresolved promises for the unearthing of novel sources of medicine for the medicine industry.