Intl. J. of Mol. Evol. and Biodivers. 2014, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1-8
7
showing any clinical symptoms (Weiss 2001,
Williams et al., 2002).
3 Conclusion and Recommendations
Traditional medicines are one of the alternative
medicinal practices commonly used in developing
countries. Like any other rural inhabitants of
developing countries, Kore people have traditional
medicinal practitioners who use wild animal species
for remedial preparations. The animal species used for
preparation of remedies are mammals, reptiles and
birds. Mammals are with the highest frequency. One
species (Thick-billed raven) is endemic to the country
and the other species are least conservational concern.
Almost all practitioners collect animals and their
products from the wild. Their primary source is
hunting which could have local effect on the
distribution and abundance of wild animal species
used for medicinal purposes. Specific conclusion
might not be possible on the trends of medicinal
species diversity, abundance and distribution in the
study area in the absence of systematic ecological
inventory prior to the present study.
Large numbers of ailments were identified (46
ailments) during the survey. Some of the symptom of
ailments overlapped and given a common and general
name. For example, stomach pain is given for both
gastro and intestinal diseases.
The indigenous knowledge of the practitioners is
dependent on sex and age of the informants. Males
have more knowledge than female about medicinal
animal species. The proximity of the area to Nechsar
National park also created access to interact with
diverse wild animal species.
Large proportions of urban inhabitants (government
employees) in the study area use traditional medicine.
This indicates that traditional medicine plays
significant role in filling the modern health services
gap in the area.
Based on the present study, the following
recommendations are forwarded regarding traditional
medicinal practices in the area:
Some of the practitioners do not have knowledge
about zoonotic disease and do not use any
protective method. Practitioners should be
organized in association and should be trained by
concerned governmental and non governmental
bodies.
This study provides baseline data for chemists
and pharmacists to undergo further and detailed
study on the analysis of active ingredient and
other pharmacological aspects.
Comparative wild animal population abundance
should be conducted at different geographic areas
to see the local effect of the traditional medicinal
practices.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Dilla
University for the financial and material support, IdeaWild for
field equipment support. Appreciation and thanks should also
be extended to Amaro Special Woreda administrators and
governmental institutions for unreserved collaboration and
kindness during data collection.
We are extremely grateful to the local people for their
hospitality and willingness to share their indigenous knowledge
in this regard. Their contribution to this research deserves
special thanks and recognition. We are also grateful to Ato
Awash Alembo who first introduced us to the area and
facilitated the pilot survey of the research.
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