Use and management of wild fauna by people of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley and surrounding areas, Mexico

Hunting practices in southwestern Amazonia: a comparative study of techniques, modalities, and baits among urban and rural hunters

BACKGROUND

Hunting is a vital means of obtaining animal in various human populations. Hunters rely on their knowledge of species ecology and behavior to develop and employ hunting techniques and increase their chances of success. The comparison of the hunting practices of different human societies can shed light on the sustainability of hunting and the impact it has on species' populations. In this study, we examine and compare the techniques, modalities, and baits used by urban and rural hunters in Rondônia, a state in southwestern Amazonia, Brazil. We expected that rural hunters would use these elements and have greater knowledge when compared to urban hunters. We also expect that the use of specific hunting techniques and modalities will have greater selectivity and specificity of capture for rural hunters and that this knowledge will differ between groups.

METHODS

We conducted 106 semi-structured interviews with rural and urban hunters from October 2018 to February 2020. We analyzed the data using PERMANOVA and Network analyses to compare and contrast the hunting practices of each group.

RESULTS

We recorded four main hunting techniques divided into ten modalities with three techniques and seven modalities being the preferred choices among hunters. Waiting for at a Fruit Tree was cited as the primary technique employed by hunters living in urban and rural areas indicated. While the techniques and modalities were similar among hunters, the composition of species targeted and baits used differed between groups. Our network approach showed that modularity in urban areas was numerically lower than in rural areas. All species had one to more techniques associated with their capture.

CONCLUSIONS

Hunters living in urban and rural environments showed high similarity in their practices, probably due to sharing similar environments to hunt containing similar species, as well as targeting preferably the same species.

Ecological Knowledge and Management of Fauna Among the Mexicatl of the Sierra Negra, México: An Interpretive Approach

Generally motivated by the relevance of animals in human subsistence, the management of fauna has taken different shapes throughout the world. This study aims to analyse a typology of management forms, exploring their relationship with the motivation to maintain coexistence and use of fauna and mitigate negative human-fauna interactions by the Mexicatl (Nahua) people in Central Mexico. We generally expected to find a broad spectrum of management types in a gradient of interactions intensity. This is because we hypothesised that the more meaningful these interactions due to the magnitude of benefit or damage, philias, or phobias among other positive or negative perceptions, and ecological aspects and management viability, the more actions and practices might be motivated to maintain or mitigate them. We conducted a qualitative research based on interpretivist approaches, mixing qualitative and quantitative analyses, to register the Mexicatl names of fauna present in the area and recognised by locals and to analyse the influence of local ecological knowledge (LEK) and natural history as perceived by people on the use, conflicts, and management practices regarding local fauna. In order to gather such information, in 2018 and 2019 we generated 356 free lists of fauna and 20 sessions of group interviews about the presence of animals in the area, the Mexicatl name, information on distribution, diet, use, management, and other facts. We used visual stimuli with children and young people from schools of basic and intermediate levels in five rural communities and the municipal head of Coyomeapan, Puebla. We also generated free lists and in-depth interviews with 18 persons older than 16 years. People recognised 114 animal items, the most salient being 11 domestic and 14 wild animals including deer, medium and small mammals, snakes, and birds. For both domestic and wild fauna, people reported 18 use categories and three types of damage (crop losses, predation of domestic animals, and damages to health). LEK interacted with traditional celebrations, religious beliefs, land tenure, and migration to define preferences and management types of fauna. Bushmeat demand, especially for Mazama temama and Cuniculus paca, was related to a perception of healthy nutrition properties. Management actions included husbandry of domestic animals, extraction of wild animals for supply, or to avoid damages, captivity, tolerance to damage, protection of seeds and domestic animals threatened by wild fauna, regulations for extraction of wild fauna, and agreements to prevent conflicts. Mixed quantitative and qualitative approaches allowed the interpretation of the human-fauna interactions related to subsistence, coexistence, and the high relevance of LEK, perceptions, religious beliefs, ecosystem, socio-demographic factors, and animal behaviour and habits, which are crucial factors that influence the shaping of management practices. Local management strategies of fauna were diverse and contribute to biocultural conservation and theoretical construction on domestication.

Nahua biocultural richness: an ethnoherpetological perspective

BACKGROUND

Mexico harbours one of the greatest biocultural diversities of the world, where multiple social and natural elements and systems form complex networks of interactions in which both culture and nature are mutually influenced. Biocultural states and processes are studied by ethnosciences, among them ethnoherpetology, which seeks understanding material and non-material expressions of the interactions between humans, amphibians, and reptiles. Herpetofauna has been part of the magic-religious world and source of goods for Mesoamerican cultures. This study aims to document and analyse the complex body of knowledge, beliefs, and practices on these vertebrates in the Nahua culture, the factors that have influenced progressive risk and loss of culture, habitat, and species, and the potential contribution of contemporary Nahua knowledge to biocultural conservation.

METHODS

Through 15 workshops with children and young people, and 16 semi-structured interviews to people 27 to 74 years old, we documented the contemporary Nahua knowledge in the communities of Aticpac and Xaltepec in the Sierra Negra, Puebla, central Mexico. Biological and ecological knowledge, use, management practices, legends, and perceptions on herpetofauna were emphasised in the study.

RESULTS

We obtained an ethnoherpetological checklist, grouping species into four general classificatory categories: kohuatl (serpents), kalatl (frogs and toads), ayotsi (turtles), and ketzo (lizards and salamanders), which included 21, 10, 1, and 11 ethnocategories respectively, based on the local Nahua knowledge of herpetofauna. Serpents, used as medicine, are the most culturally relevant. Due to perceptions of danger, beliefs, and actual snake bites, the main interaction with serpents is their elimination; however, some snakes are tolerated and maintained in captivity. The remaining species of local herpetofauna recorded are tolerated. Cultural aspects of reptiles and amphibians in the Nahua worldview were documented to influence the regulation of interactions of people with these vertebrates, but for younger generations, such aspects are less frequent or absent.

CONCLUSIONS

Interactions and cultural relationships between the Nahua people, amphibians and reptiles are complex, maintaining some aspects of the local worldview but also influenced by external factors and being constantly recreated and re-signified. Documenting and understanding the contemporary relations is essential to generate strategies in biocultural conservation of herpetofauna.