Ethnozoology: An Overview and Current Perspectives

Abstract Scientific publications represent an important indicator of the growth and perspectives of any given area of academic investigation. This chapter presents a global view of scientific production in ethnozoology and analyzes its advances, tendencies, and future perspectives. Ethnozoological research is as diverse as human interactions with regional faunas, making that subarea of ethnobiology rich in possibilities for investigations. Our results indicated expressive increases in ethnozoological research within a scenario of extensive cultural, social, and faunal diversity, with a principal focus on tropical regions, especially in Africa and South America. The increasing numbers of ethnozoological research papers that have appeared point to greater visibility for that subject matter in many countries throughout the world. While these advances are quite evident, greater scientific rigor is still needed in terms of qualitative and quantitative approaches, as well as greater and more efficient dialogues with academic areas interfacing with ethnozoology.