Ethnozoology of the Amazonian Tapir (Tapirus terrestris Linnaeus 1758) in the Sarayaku Community, Ecuador

Abstract

The present study was carried out in Sarayaku, a Kichwa indigenous community of the Pastaza Indigenous Peoples’ Organization (OPIP) in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Province of Pastaza, Ecuador. Twenty one families were interviewed by means of structured surveys about general knowledge of Amazonian Tapir (Tapirus terrestris). Surveys were directed toward hunters’ families and communitarian park-rangers. Tapir represented 6.34% of the annual diet of the 21 surveyed families and occupied sixth place among the most hunted species. Preferred sites for hunting were: salt licks, Mauritia flexuosa swamps, chacras (small gardens), hills, plains and river edges. Interviewed people described hunting techniques, hunting histories and mythological knowledge about the species. Six families attributed medicinal uses to the hoof of the tapir. Another six indicated that tea made of grated hooves fights cardiac afflictions, epilepsy and rheumatism. The nine remaining families did not attribute any medicinal use to the species. Additionally, we consider the experience of the “Tapir Conservation Project” held in the community through the establishment of communitarian reserves as an alternative for food security and management of the biodiversity. This experience, combined with the results of this study, give us an idea of the ample knowledge of Kichwa indigenous peoples on the biodiversity of our house, Pachamama.