Ethnobotany of hunting: an insight into Tsimane’ traditional hunting in Bolivian Amazonia

For the Tsimane’ people, hunting and fishing (H&F) are a significant part of local livelihoods. In the villages of Cuchisama and San Luis Chico, H&F is practiced almost daily by adult men (>80% of hunting), and less frequently by male teenagers, women and children.

A range of ethnobiological methods and reflection are being utilized with both villages to carry out a collaborative study on the use of plants in traditional H&F. 

While the project is ongoing, preliminary results show the use of over 20 plant ethnospecies utilized for the fabrication of bows, ropes, arrows, hunting indicators, and for fish poisons. The main objectives are the creation of educational publications and the production of a video documentary of the fabrication and use of bows and arrows (in process), to be screened locally and internationally. Other H&F techniques are still in the process of being documented.