84- Zootherapy as a healing practice in North East, India: A review

The North-Eastern part of India is the hub of rich biodiversity as well as cultural diversity. People of North East India have been dependent on nature and natural products for therapeutic purposes since time immemorial. There are communities where the knowledge of traditional practices hereditarily passes from one generation to the other. While the use of medicinal plants and plant products are in prominence among common people, the age old practices that concentrate on the healing prospects of animals and animal products cannot be overlooked. This review focuses on the broader aspects of using zootherapy that is the use of animals and animal products among various ethnic groups and places of North East India through secondary literature. The knowledge and practices of curing diseases using animal and animal products as ethno-medicine along with their formulations have been covered in this review. The vast use of invertebrates such as Annelids, Arthropods, Echinoderms along with the classes of vertebrate like Pisces, Aves and Mammals have found to be in use in the healing practices among different tribes.