Assessment of Ethno-veterinary Practices among Cattle Herders in Zuru, Kebbi State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper evaluated some ethno-veterinary practices among cattle herders in Zuru, Kebbi State, Nigeria. One hundred and ten (110) questionnaires were used purposively to generate data on demographic information, cattle ownership, knowledge of ethno-veterinary practices, ethno-botanical plants of veterinary importance and their uses in treating various cattle diseases.  The study covers only four villages in the study area because of the high density of cattle herders. The results revealed that cattle herding is a sole activity of males with majority (41.82%) fallen between the age group of 41-50 years old, and 79.09% having informal education while 74.55% of them have more than 11 households. Among the respondents, (47.27%), have 21-30 heads of cattle, majority (92.73%) of them are aware of ethno-veterinary practices and 89.09% adopt the of various ethno-botanical practices in treating cattle diseases. The knowledge of ethno-veterinary practice and the use of available ethno-botanical plants help the respondents to treat 20.11% cases of dermatophylosis, 18.99% parasitic infections 16.95% Contagious Bovine Pleuro-pneumonia, 15.83% trypanasomiasis and 16.76% diarrhea respectively in the study area. The existence of ethno-veterinary knowledge and practices contributes immensely to the development of livestock sub sector in the study area. This necessitates proper identification and conservation of ethno-botanical plants of veterinary importance for improved animal health care system in the study area.