The role of animal-derived remedies as complementary medicine in Brazil

Although animal-derived remedies constitute an integral part of folk medicine in many parts of the world, particularly for people with limited or no access to mainstream medical services, their role in health care has generally been overlooked in discussions about public health, conservation and management of faunistic resources, and ecosystem protection. In this article, we report on the use of 283 medicinal animal species in Brazil, 96% of which are wild caught and 27% of which are on one or more lists of endangered species. Further population declines may limit users' acccss to these bioresources and diminish the knowledge base upon which traditional medicine is built.