%0 Journal Article
%T Medicinal and ethnoveterinary remedies of hunters in Trinidad
%A Cheryl Lans
%A Tisha Harper
%A Karla Georges
%A Elmo Bridgewater
%J BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
%D 2001
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1472-6882-1-10
%X Plants used include Piper hispidum, Pithecelobium unguis-cati, Bauhinia excisa, Bauhinia cumanensis, Cecropia peltata, Aframomum melegueta, Aristolochia rugosa, Aristolochia trilobata, Jatropha curcas, Jatropha gossypifolia, Nicotiana tabacum, Vernonia scorpioides, Petiveria alliacea, Renealmia alpinia, Justicia secunda, Phyllanthus urinaria,Phyllanthus niruri,Momordica charantia, Xiphidium caeruleum, Ottonia ovata, Lepianthes peltata, Capsicum frutescens, Costus scaber, Dendropanax arboreus, Siparuma guianensis, Syngonium podophyllum, Monstera dubia, Solanum species, Eclipta prostrata, Spiranthes acaulis, Croton gossypifolius, Barleria lupulina, Cola nitida, Acrocomia ierensis (tentative ID).Plant use is based on odour, and plant morphological characteristics and is embedded in a complex cultural context based on indigenous Amerindian beliefs. It is suggested that the medicinal plants exerted a physiological action on the hunter or his dog. Some of the plants mentioned contain chemicals that may explain the ethnomedicinal and ethnoveterinary use. For instance some of the plants influence the immune system or are effective against internal and external parasites. Plant baths may contribute to the health and well being of the hunting dogs.The aim of this paper is to evaluate the ethnoveterinary remedies used by certain hunters in Trinidad. Plants are used to treat snakebites and scorpion stings and for hunting success. During the research some hunters claimed that their dogs either started hunting or hunted better after they had treated them in various ways with medicinal plants. This study has evolved out of an interest in a non-experimental evaluation of Trinidad and Tobago's ethnopharmacopoeia. This evaluation establishes whether the plant use is based on empirically verifiable principles or whether symbolic aspects of healing are more important [1]. Hunters are principally interested in the following game animals: agouti (Dasyprocta agouti), matte (Tupinambis neg
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/1/10