Agricultural and Biological Research

Perception of local tribes towards herpetofauna in remote Darjeeling hills, Eastern Himalaya

Prantik Hazra*, Karun Chhetri, Udrishya Chhetri, Dawa Dolma Sherpa, Yojna Thapa

Herpetofauna is among the most hated group in the animal kingdom by human beings. Although few animals enjoy some aspect of preservation due to religious and cultural values in their habitat than most of the others in this group. They are mostly not economically harmful but rather beneficial in controlling pests and play many important ecological roles. Many folklores, ideas, perceptions, and values play a very important role in the human relationship with animals, besides scientific approaches. We designed a study of human perception of herpetofauna focusing on differences in attitude according to age, gender, and educational qualification. Respondents were asked to rate the animals according to fear, tolerance, disgust, and ecological role. The result shows significant variations of attitude between males and females toward tolerance of herpetofauna as well as awareness of their ecological or environmental benefits. Different age groups and educational qualifications also exhibited significant variations in conceptions and misconceptions towards herpetofauna regarding their existence near or within human habitats, their ecological role, etc.