Introduction

Traditional cultural practices often represent the foundation of sustainable resource use and environmental conservation (Kideghesho 2009; Maffi and Woodley 2010). Because cultures have shaped and, in turn, been shaped by local ecosystems and their constituent biotic and abiotic elements (Alves and Rosa 2007a; Balée 1999; Berkes 1999; Maffi 2001; Pretty et al. 2009; Toledo 2001), biocultural diversity bears a close and increasingly appreciated relationship with environmental resilience and sustainability (Fraser et al. 2006; Gadgil et al. 1993; Kurien 1998; Negi 2005). Traditional knowledge systems and practices sustain the ability to anticipate, recognize, and respond to change (Turner and Clifton 2009), and as indigenous and other local communities respond to the multiple impacts of modernization, land use change, and climate change they draw necessarily on the wealth of ecological knowledge and practices held by individuals to adapt and survive (Kassam 2010).

Among the most relevant cultural features, religious beliefs and practices have long influenced human perception and use of natural resources (Berkes 2001; Tomalin 2004). As noted by Robson and Berkes (2010), cultural diversity and spiritual needs have long been connected to the ways humans use and interact with biodiversity, and in many parts of the world belief in a sacred nature underpins people’s relationship with land and resources. Whether through sanctified trees and forests, venery and horticultural rituals, myths of creation, or myriad other practices and beliefs, these intricate relationships with animals and plants and fungi, many established in the distant past, others quite recent in origin, go well beyond simple utilitarian considerations (Alves and Rosa 2008; Alves and Souto 2010; Alves et al. 2010a; MEA 2005; Robson and Berkes 2010). Yet whereas recent studies have explored cultural and spiritual values in the context of biodiversity conservation, their possible role in biological conservation and ecosystem resilience has until recently largely been ignored (Barrera-Bassols and Toledo 2005; Berkes 1999; McNeely 2001; Peloquin and Berkes 2009; Wadley and Colfer 2004).

Animals have played and continue to play a prominent role in religious practices worldwide (Alves 2008; Berkes 2001; Ferretti 2001; Lugira 2009; McNeely 2001; Nikoloudis 2001), and their relationship to humans has encompassed a supernatural dimension since ancient times (Alves and Souto 2010). As Allaby (2010) reports, all human cultures produced myths and these frequently included totemic animals and animal-gods. Thus, in addition to their consumptive value, animals serve in sacrificial offerings, their body parts are integral to magical amulets and nasal ablutions, and their form and function takes on profound symbolic significance—good or evil, powerful or meek, clever or dull (Moazami 2005). Given the historical and cultural depth of this relationship, understanding human-animal relations in the perspective of religious traditions is fundamental to the cause of meaningful animal conservation.

The urgency and challenge of conserving Brazil’s biological biodiversity requires a multidimensional approach grounded in the recognition that natural and cultural diversity in traditional societies is often coevolved and mutually dependent (Maffi and Woodley 2010), the resilience of one element depending on continuity of another. Furthermore, it requires a practical appreciation of the fact that in the face of globalization and the commodification of nature, many of the feedback loops that served in the past to reinforce environmental sustainability may no longer be operative. This is equally true of magico-religious traditions involving wildlife, which for the most part developed under quite different socioeconomic conditions than are extant in the twenty-first century.

This paper explores these questions in the context of wild harvested resources for spiritual and religious purposes associated with the Candomblé religion in northeastern and northern Brazil. Candomblé represents a set of beliefs, practices, and cosmological traditions introduced by Yoruba slaves and freedmen to colonial and later imperial Brazil (Voeks 1997).

We address the following questions regarding the trade and use of animals for magico-religious purposes in Brazil: 1) which species are used? 2) what is the proportion of wild species used? 3) what is their conservation status? 4) what is the cultural setting in which they are used? and 5) how can dialogue among resource users and policy makers be fostered?

Study Area

Field work was conducted in the north and northeast of Brazil, including the cities of Caruaru, São Luís, Teresina, João Pessoa, Campina Grande and Belém (Fig. 1). Northeast Brazil is home to around 51 million people, representing 28.9 % of the total national population, most of whom live in the urban areas. The population has witnessed extensive racial mixing; according to the 2006 national census people of multiracial backgrounds (African, European, and Amerindian) made up 62.5 % of the population, while those of total or predominantly black ancestry accounted for 7.8 %. The northeast of Brazil was not subject to the waves of northern European immigration that took place in Southern Brazil in the late nineteenth century and first decades of the twentieth century (Alves 2009).

Fig. 1
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Map showing surveyed localities in Brazil

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The northern portion of Brazil, largely covered by the Amazon rainforest, is the region with the largest Amerindian influence, both in culture and ethnicity. Inhabited by diverse indigenous tribes, this part of Brazil was reached by Portuguese and Spanish settlers in the seventeenth century, but began to be populated by non-Indians only in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The exploitation of rubber in northern Brazil caused a huge human migration during which time many people from poor areas in the northeast of Brazil moved to the Amazon region, infusing the region with African and Iberian cultural traditions and perceptions.

Methods

This study was carried out between January 2004 and June 2008. Visits were made to outdoor markets and religious article stores where products derived from animals are commonly traded. Information on the use and trade of animals for magico-religious purposes was gathered through interviews with 133 traders, 40 owners of religious article stores, and 93 herbalists (raizeiros) who, in addition to medicinal plants and roots, trade medicinal animals in booths located in open markets (Alves and Rosa 2010). Trader interviews took place in the cities of Belém (n = 37), São Luís (37), Teresina (26), João Pessoa (10), Caruaru (19) and Campina Grande (4).

Owners of religious article stores and herb/root traders were selected using a non-random sampling method in which the respondents are pre-defined (Albuquerque and Paiva 2004). Attempts were made to interview all the local traders, but given that part of the trade is illicit, some (roughly 30 %) chose not to be interviewed. Data were gathered adopting the user and researcher technique following Freire (1996). The first phase of this technique consists of acting as a consumer (user) interested in buying medicinal products and asking various questions about which parts of the animal are more appropriate for different treatments, how to prepare the material, etc. In the second (researcher) phase, the interviewer explains the objectives of the research to the interviewee, pointing out the importance of his/her participation. The initial contact is fundamental to information gathering, as the people involved in these activities tend to omit information as they know that some of the species traded are protected by environmental laws (Alves and Pereira Filho 2007).

Additional interviewees were chosen by using the snowball technique (Bailey 1994) based on information initially provided by the first respondents. Information was also obtained by semi-structured interviews (Bernard 1994) and supplemented by free interviews (Huntington 2000), which were conducted on a one-to-one basis. Information provided by participants was cross-checked at various points of the interview. Most questions involved the species of animals used for magical-religious purposes, the body parts used, how they were used, and the quantities traded.

In addition we visited terreiros (religious spaces) of Candomblé worship where animals are used in various rituals; there we conducted interviews with 11 Candomblé priests and priestesses (locally known as pais or mães-de-santo—father or mother-of-saints) in the cities of Caruaru (8) and Campina Grande (3). With consent of participants, interviews were recorded and later transcribed. Rituals involving animal sacrifice were observed and documented at terreiros, following consent by priests and priestesses. Although rituals are often carried out in secrecy—an aspect that poses a challenge in terms of gaining access to and obtaining information on these practices (Leo Neto et al. 2011)—access to the terreiros was granted through adepts (filhos-de-santo) acquainted with the third author (NALN). Interviews were first conducted with priests and priestesses; additional interviewees were chosen by using the snowball sampling technique. Not all attempts to interview Candomblé priests and priestesses were successful, as some (n = 4) interviewees were reluctant to answer questions and thus provided limited information. Approval for the study was obtained from the Ethics committee of Universidade Estadual da Paraíba.

Vernacular species names were recorded exactly as provided by traders and Candomblé priests and priestesses. Animals mentioned by respondents were visually identified during the interviews as well as through photographs of the animals or their parts taken during interviews and identified later with the aid of specialists and the relevant literature.

Results

We identified a total of 129 species of animals (or animal derived products) being used in terreiros and/or sold for religious-magical purposes. From these, 29 were cited only by traders, 50 only by priests or priestesses, and 50 by both. Most animals reported were mammals (n = 29), followed by mollusks (20), fishes (19), birds (18) and reptiles (16) (Fig. 2, Table 1). The majority (78 %) of reported species were wild-caught from terrestrial habitats (62 %), followed by marine and estuarine (24 %), and freshwater (14 %).

Fig. 2
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Number of animal species used for magico-religious purposes per taxonomic category in Brazil

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Table 1 Animal species utilized for magico-religious ends in cities surveyed. Prices listed when provided by informant. Cities: São Luís–(SL), Belém–(BE), Teresina (TE), João Pessoa–(JP), Caruaru–(CA) and Campina Grande–(PB)
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The species most frequently mentioned by traders were Hippocampus reidi (longsnout seahorse, n = 95), Boa constrictor (boa constrictor, 69), Sotalia fluviatilis (Amazonian dolphin, 61), and Crotalus durissus (rattlesnake, 59). The cities of São Luís and Belém traded the highest number of animal species for magico-religious purposes, 48 and 28, respectively, whereas the city of Teresina commercialized 25 species, the least of the study locations. At the terreiros 88 species were reported or observed, the most frequently mentioned being Monetaria caputserpentis (serpent’s head cowry, n = 11), Monetaria moneta (money cowry, 11), Monetaria annulus (ring cowry, 11), Gallus gallus (chicken, 11), Columba livia (rock dove, 10), Chelonoidis denticulata (Brazilian giant tortoise, 9), Numida meleagris (helmeted guineafowl, 9) and Capra hircus (goat, 9). Animals were sold alive or as body parts (e.g., flesh, spine, heart, liver, bones, horn, skin, feather and shell), which were employed for different purposes even when belonging to the same animal (Figs. 3 and 4).

Fig. 3
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Animals and animal-based raw materials traded for magico-religious purposes. Above (left): eyes, penis, perfume and vagina of boto (Sotalia fluviatilis); (right): head of jibóia (Boa constrictor), starfish (Astropecten sp.), seahorse (Hippocampus reidi) and rattlesnake’s rattle (C. durissus); center (left): starfish (Astropecten sp.), (right) starfish (Oreaster reticulatus); below (left) dried seahorse (Hippocampus reidi) and (right) specimen of uirapuru laranja (Pipra fasciicauda)

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Fig. 4
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Reptiles and raw materials traded for magico-religious purposes. Above (left): head of caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus); above (right): rattlesnake’s rattle (C. durissus); head of jibóia (Boa constrictor) and of caiman (P. palpebrosus); center (left): head of jabuti (Chelonoidis denticulata); center (right): rattlesnake’s skin (C. durissus); below (left and right): tamaquaré (Uranoscodon superciliosus)

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Interviewees reported an extensive commercial network comprised of collectors, middlemen/distributors, and shop owners. Trade was structured locally (animals bought and sold within a state), cross-state or even cross-region. The sources for traded animals included the following states: Pará, Paraíba, Bahia, Maranhão, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Pernambuco, Piauí and São Paulo. The magnitude of the animal trade was markedly higher in Belém and São Luís than in the other sites surveyed, highlighting the influence of Afro-Brazilian religions in these sites. The main points of commercialization of these animal products were religious stores and markets, and open fairs.

The single most expensive item cited was the song bird Cyphorhinus aradus (musician wren), which was bought by dealers for US$75 and sold to end-consumers for US$100. According to shop owners, the majority of species were acquired for less than US$10, and their parts or products were usually sold for less than US$2.50 to end-consumers. For example, entire caimans were generally purchased for up to US$10, and then separated into marketable parts—teeth, leather, head, fat, and meat. Pieces of skin (approximately 10 × 15 cm) were then sold for US$1–1.50, the same price as a caiman’s tooth.

According to respondents, the determination of which animals or animal parts should be used, as well as the way in which they should be used, was made on the basis of an earlier consultation with a Candomblé priest. The consumer enters the shop with a list of products prescribed by his or her spiritual leader, who in turn is guided by communication from one or another of the Candomblé deities (orixás). According to one shop owner, “the use (of a product) is identified by the spiritual guides at the terreiro, during a white table [divination ceremony] when the entities appear and give this type of information.”

Infrequently, shop owners themselves indicated what animal product should be utilized based on their own experience and the client’s description of the problem. In four cases, the shop owners interviewed also served as Candomblé priests and held rapid spiritual consultations in their shops. They stressed, however, that “more serious problems” could only be solved at the terreiros.

Live animals are sacrificed and offered to the orixás (especially the deities Exu and Iemanjá), and the type of animal used depends on the preference of the relevant deity. Sacrificial animals are required to be healthy, strong and without any physical problems. The sex of the animal used is often related to the gender of the relevant orixá. Female orixás (Iabás) “eat” female animals, whereas male orixás (Borós) “eat” male animals. An exception to this rule is Obatala, the only male orixá who “eats” in the Iabás circle, thus accepting sacrifices of female animals in his honor. Some species serve particular functions, such as spiritual cleansing, healing rituals, or bori, a type of initiation ceremony. Following sacrifice, the animal’s vital parts, thought to be imbued with axé (spiritual energy) are offered to the orixás. Useful parts include the head, paws, wings, liver, gizzard, heart, lungs, liver, genitals, flippers, tail and first ribs, and these are first combined and cooked in dende oil (Elaeis guineensis), honey and other spices prior to being offered.

Live domestic animals including goats, chickens, helmeted guinea fowls, and rock pigeons were the most often used in sacrificial practices. The use of wild-caught animals, such as the Brazilian tortoise (C. denticulata) and the red brocket (Mazama americana), is far more restricted. The priest’s preference for domestic animals was reportedly due to difficulties in acquiring protected wild species, and the sacred symbolism of certain domesticated species, many of which carry similar value in Africa. Nevertheless, all interviewed traders indicated that dead wild animals or animal parts, such as seahorses, starfish, and boas, were used as offerings during certain rituals.

Animals are also employed in a ritual called despacho, one of the most common practices among followers of Afro-Brazilian religions. Despachos are offerings that are often used to cast harmful spells. Besides animals or animal parts, they may contain popcorn, packages of flour, and cachaça (sugar cane rum), depending on the inclinations of the spiritual entity.

Other products derived from animals are offered for sale in a magical context, principally águas (waters, or perfumes), and patuás (Figs. 5, 6 and 7). The águas contain animal products suspended in ingredients such as alcohol, rose water, or solutions containing other plant materials. After preparation, the mixture is labeled by the name of the specific animal utilized in its production, such as seahorse water, seahorse perfume, or crab-water. According to interviewees, the species utilized to produce the águas are starfish (Astropecten sp.), seahorses (H. reidi and H. cf. erectus), diving lizards (U. superciliosus), boas (Boa constrictor), dolphins (Sotalia fluviatilis, S. guianensis and Inia geofreensis), sloths (Bradypus variegatus), chameleons (Iguana iguana), tortoises (Chelonoidis carbonaria and C. denticulata), and land crabs (Ucides cordatus). According to shop owners (n = 50), there is an association between the behavioral characteristics of some of the animals and the effect that their use is expected to generate. For example, águas containing parts of slow-moving animals, such as the brown-throated sloth (B. variegatus), the red-footed tortoise (C. carbonaria), and the Brazilian giant tortoise (C. denticulata) are used to calm people down.

Fig. 5
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Examples of preparations locally known as águas (waters), containing whole animals or their parts: a Starfish (Astropecten sp.) and seahorse (Hippocampus reidi); b Tortoise (Chelonoidis sp.); c Sloth water (Bradypus sp); d Tamaquaré water (Uranoscodon superciliosus); e and f land crab water (Ucides cordatus)

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Fig. 6
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Commercial animal products used for magico-religious ends. Above (left): “água da bota” produced, according to interviewees, from the vagina of Sotalia fluviatilis (above left), below (left): “água da jibóia”, prepared from parts of Boa constrictor (above left)

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Fig. 7
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Examples of “patuás” containing animals or their parts. Above (left): seahorse patuá (H. reidi); above (right): patuá with one piece of boa skin (Boa constrictor); below: patuá of dolphins eye (S. fluviatilis) and patuá of boa (front and side)

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Patuás are satchel-like magical objects made from leather or even plastic. They are used to carry animal parts, such as pieces of boa snake skin or porpoise eyes, or even whole small animals, such as starfish or small seahorses. These amulets are worn around the neck, pinned to one’s clothes, or carried in one’s pocket, purse or wallet (Voeks 1997). According to the interviewees (n = 101), these amulets are employed to bring good luck or to attract emotional and financial success (Table 1).

Another important magical product sold by shop keepers (n = 40) is pó (powder or dust). It is derived of dried animals or animal parts and is used to cast spells on a victim. The species most commonly used to obtain pó include U. superciliosus (sun dried and ground to a fine powder), C. carbonaria and C. denticulata (the powder is scraped from the head of the creature), and B. variegatus. These products, although serving the same purpose as the águas, are used by sprinkling the powder on food served to the person.

Decoration is a common use of animals in Candomblé terreiros, especially mollusks. Overall, nine mollusks were identified, including búzios (gastropods) from the species M. moneta, M. annulus and E. caputserpentis decorated the Ibás (specific locations for each supernatural entity). They were also used in necklaces dedicated to each of the deities, and to ornament masks worn by adepts during possession trance.

We found considerable overlap in the use of species, such as in the case of Boa constrictor, whose skin, tail, cloaca, eyes, head, excrement, fat and teeth were sold as separate parts, or were incorporated into águas or pó (head or body) (Fig. 8). These snakes were used for various purposes, including success in love, travel, attracting money, and success at gambling or business dealings. Moreover, many (n = 62) shops sold industrialized products purportedly made from animal parts, such as powder from black cats and águas made from musician wrens (Fig. 9). Eleven shop owners reported that the products were acquired directly from salesmen (mainly from the state of Bahia), but claimed not to know how they were manufactured.

Fig. 8
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Products derived from jibóia (Boa constrictor) for sale at a religious articles store, Belém city, state of Pará

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Fig. 9
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Examples of manufactured products advertised as animal-based. Above (left): uirapuru perfum (C. aradus); above (right): black cat powder (F. cattus); below (left): manatee’s fat (Trichecus sp.); below (right), jibóia (Boa constrictor) and boto tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) perfume

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Discussion

Animals play a major role in African and African-derived religions worldwide (Adeola 1992; Alves and Rosa 2008; Anane 1997; De Pater and Dankelman 2010; Léo Neto et al. 2009; Lugira 2009; Rosa et al. 2010, 2011), and it is not surprising that many of these customs have persisted and/or been incorporated into the Afro-Brazilian cults. The use of animals in Afro-Brazilian religious rituals has created and sustained a network of commercial sales outlets throughout the country, many of which are located in public markets and fairs. Local markets are recognized as an important link to the religious practices of millions of Afro-Brazilians (see Albuquerque et al. 2007); as noted by Vogel et al. (1993), they allow devotees to obtain all the elements necessary to undertake the prescribed rituals, including animals and plants with magico-religious significance.

The high number of species recorded as being used for magico-religious purposes in this study further highlight that “animals are valuable to people not only because they provide economic benefits, but because they have been incorporated into our sense of place and enshrined in long-standing cultural practices” (Sanderson 2006). The extensive use of the local fauna recorded in our surveys should be considered when discussing the conservation and sustainability of animal resources, especially in light of the fact that the animals most commonly commercialized for ritualistic purposes were wild species, and that approximately 35 % of the recorded species are already included in some list of threatened species (CITES 2010; IUCN 2010; Machado et al. 2008; MMA 2004).

While our results corroborated the well-documented use of domestic animals in sacrificial rituals (Léo Neto et al. 2009; Leo Neto and Alves 2010; Lugira 2009; Valente 1977), the extensive and widespread use of wild-caught species unveiled a relatively novel and understudied aspect of the use of animals for magico-religious purposes. According to Candomblé priests, two main factors determine the choice of domestic or wild-caught animals: 1) the difficulty in acquiring wild species due to legal prohibition, and 2) the sacred symbolism of some wild species, suggesting their protection rather than sacrifice by practitioners. Nevertheless, the ample trade of wild animals indicates that sacred status does not necessarily confer protection. Indeed, animal sacrifice has been the object of criticism by adepts of other religions in Brazil, as well as by different social players and public institutions (Oro 2005; Tadvald 2007). As an example, the sacrificial use of armadillo (Tolypeutes tricinctus) underscores society’s mistrust of Afro-Brazilian religions and generates a defensive discourse on the part of practitioners (Silva 2009). But despite existing legislation and negative public opinion, hunting, use and trade of wild animals persists throughout Brazil (Alves et al. 2009a, b, c; Barbosa et al. 2011; Hanazaki et al. 2009; Oliveira et al. 2010), and many respondents simply deny using animals to avoid legal or ethical entanglements. As pointed out by various authors (Alves et al. 2007, 2009b; Fachín-Terán 2008; Pezzuti et al. 2010), current legislation alone has not been able to eliminate those practices.

Indeed, the importance of religious cults in providing healing services for Brazil’s urban poor is widely acknowledged (Rabelo 1993), and as noted by Straker (1994), the supernatural world is as relevant in the diagnosis of illness as the natural world. This is of particular relevance in countries like Brazil, where many people view illnesses as caused by physical (e.g., virus), spiritual (e.g., entities, saints, punishment) or magical agents (e.g., spells). Furthermore, there is widespread belief in the capacity of the sacred realm to prevent and cure disease (Alves et al. 2010b, c; Ferretti 2003). In the context of terreiro offerings, the preparation of necklaces, amulets, cleansing baths, and incense are part of the procedures used to obtain spiritual protection and to keep evil at bay (Ferretti 2003). Some of these involve the use of whole animals or their parts, which according to Santos (1993) and Souza (1995), can have multiple uses in a ritualistic context.

Our surveys revealed that whereas religious stores commercialize their products exclusively for magico-religious purposes, animal products at markets and open fairs are also traded for medicinal purposes, an anticipated result given the striking influence of magical beliefs in Brazilian traditional medicine (Alves and Rosa 2007b, 2010).

The prices of magico-religious wildlife items traded in Brazil showed great variation, reflecting largely the species’ rarity, size, and overall demand. Larger wild animals, which generally received the highest prices, were mainly species especially vulnerable to overhunting with limited capacity to recover from population declines. As reported by Alves and Rosa (2010), the endangered status of a particular species is often used by traders to increase its monetary value (e.g., Hippocampus reidi, Myrmecophaga tridactyla and Cyphorhinus aradus). The higher value assigned to rare species is clearly of critical importance to their conservation (Jepson and Ladle 2005). Intensive harvesting of rare and endangered species may result in their extinction, and individuals who greatly value rarity will often increase the economic incentives to capture increasingly rare species, thus creating a positive feedback loop with uncommon species being more valuable and therefore more sought-after (Angulo et al. 2009; Courchamp et al. 2006). The vulnerability of a number of rare charismatic species has been well publicized but many others are likewise currently endangered or could become rare in the near future by simply becoming fashionable in one or another market (Angulo et al. 2009). Understanding the response of consumers and hunters to perceived rarity is vital for predicting the impact of intervention strategies that seek to minimize extinction risk (Hall et al. 2008).

Animal sacrifice represents one of the most frequent forms of animal utilization in Candomblé and African religions (Lugira 2009). It is at the ritualistic foundation of African and African Diaspora belief systems and is firmly grounded in the principle that cultural entities receive life as a counterpart for imparting axé, mainly through the release of their blood (Silva 2009). “The flesh and blood in ceremonial offerings,” according the Lody (1987) “establish the necessary links for the perpetuation of the African divinities’ properties in the terreiros.”

Records of the use of animal sacrifices in religious ceremonies are not new in Brazil. As early as 1680, the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Brazil heard reports of animal sacrifices associated with funeral practices; a century later denunciations of decidedly non-Catholic rituals practiced by slaves were also recorded (Verger 1992).

The types of animals used and their mode of sacrifice are supported by beliefs and myths associated with the religion, and depend upon the preferences of the orixá to whom they are offered. As the myths and practices associated with Candomblé originated in Africa, some of the animal species used in sacrificial rituals either also occur in parts of Africa, or are substitutes for African species (Alves et al. 2009a; Léo Neto et al. 2009, 2012). For example, the helmeted guinea fowl, Numida Meleagris, is also used in sacrificial rituals in sub-Saharan African countries. Other taxa that do not occur in Brazil, such as the African giant snail (Archachatina marginata), a critical element in Nigerian magico-medical traditions rituals, is replaced by the East African land snail (Achatina fulica,) an African invasive that inhabits both sides of the Atlantic. Although different species, they are known by the same name (igbin) in both Brazil and Nigeria (Léo Neto et al. 2009; Sodeinde and Soewu 1999).

In Nigeria, sacrificial animals and their parts are also employed in rituals to appease and invoke spirits and traditional gods, as exemplified by the use of the head of the African python (Python sebae) to invoke and protect against witches (Sodeinde and Soewu 1999). In Brazil, the head of the boa (B. constrictor) is used for similar ends. Other animals originally used in the rites of passage in Africa but not found in Brazil have been substituted with South American natives.

Amerindian practices have powerfully influenced Candomblé animal uses, due to early syncretism between African slaves and native peoples (Valente 1977; Verger 1992,1997). While Alves and Rosa (2006) noted that Amerindian shamanic practices have been widely incorporated into Afro-Brazilian religion, Voeks (1997) observed that the Amerindian role of herbalist, healer, diviner and shaman were all incorporated by Afro-Brazilian priests and priestesses of the Candomblé. This mixing and fusion is evident in many instances. For example, artifacts and statues of tribal pajé (Amerindian shaman) are sold at Afro-Brazilian religious stores. The impact of Amerindian traditions is further indicated by the use of the patuá, a religious article in Brazil normally associated with Afro-Brazilian beliefs. In fact, according to Valente (1977) the term patuá is a modification of the regional Amerindian word pitiguá, which designates a carrying satchel made from woven palm leaves, or a type of small leather or woven fiber sack used to hold small possessions.

There is also considerable overlap between the use of animals in traditional Brazilian medicine and the Afro-Brazilian religious rituals. Many of the animals sold in shops and used for medicinal purposes, such as seahorses, caimans, dolphins, and others, are also used in magico-religious rituals and practices (Alves and Rosa 2010). This is not surprising, given that the popular medicine practiced at the terreiros is made up of both curative and preventive actions based on a vision of humans and cosmos anthropologically situated in the realm of faith (Oliveira 2003). Many illnesses attributed to supernatural causes or to spirits, such as “the evil eye”, can be treated by pais and mães de santo through prayers and rituals that involve animals. According to Moura (1988), umbanda is the most widespread Afro-Brazilian religion in the country, and medical treatments using popular folk medicines often occur in umbanda terreiros. Disease etiology is believed to be influenced by the flux of a mystic force and it is the function of umbanda rituals to protect the faithful from the invisible forces that guide illnesses, problems, unhappiness, and hunger (Luz 1983, 1993).

Many wildlife species have spiritual significance in different cultures around the world, and they and their products may be used as sacred objects in religious rituals (Adeola 1992; Berkes 1999, 2001; Nikoloudis 2001). In Brazil, the use of animals for magico-religious purposes is influenced both by African and indigenous traditions. This is not surprising given the syncretic dimension of Afro-Brazilian religions (Cohen 2007; Ferretti 2001; Valente 1977). As pointed out by Cohen (2007), the pajelança, an indigenous form of shamanistic healing, is frequently invoked in Afro-Brazilian terreiro activities. Pajelança methods and musical instruments are used in terreiro healing rituals (e.g., cigar and maraca). Leacock et al. (1972) highlighted that Afro-Brazilian religious practices in Belém encompass a racially heterogeneous population and the pantheon includes spirits with Euro-Brazilian names and characteristics. Entidades (spiritual entities) of Amazonian origin, such as dolphins, snakes, and jaguars, also populate the pantheon, reflecting both the cultural and biological diversity of that region (Leacock et al. 1972).

Wild animals contribute to human spirituality and have done so for a long time (Kellert and Farnham 2002). Wildlife has spiritual significance in cultures around the world, and animals and their products are employed as sacred and sacrificial elements in numerous religious rituals (Sanderson 2006). It is undeniable that biocultural beliefs influence the way people perceive and use the resources of their environment (Cohn 1988) and the outcome of these human-faunal interrelationships and interactions can be either positive or negative. As noted by McNeely (2001), religious beliefs often serve to prevent overexploitation of the resources on which they depend. However, as observed in this study, the use and trade of faunal resources for cultural purposes, particularly when these resources are already stressed through other causes (e.g., habitat fragmentation and deforestation), places unsustainable and unacceptable pressure on wild species. Unfortunately, information relating to spiritual and cultural dimensions of wildlife is not often considered in current ecosystem management (Alves et al. 2010a; Sponsel et al. 2002; Verschuuren 2006). This is partly because such knowledge is inaccessible and difficult to understand by outsiders, such as western-trained conservationists and conventional ecosystem managers. Hence, accounting for the various worldviews and their corresponding cultural and spiritual values in the practice of ecosystem management forms a challenge for managers, policy-makers and local people alike (Verschuuren 2006).

The use of animals for magico-religious purposes is deeply rooted in Afro-Brazilian religious practices. These cultural practices need to be taken into consideration in any conservation strategies aimed at species protection (Alves et al. 2008). As pointed out by McNeely (2001), although establishing a connection between traditional cultures and the conservation of biological diversity is by no means a simple matter, the approaches to conserving biodiversity based on cultural and religious values are often more sustainable than those based on legislation or regulation alone. Furthermore, it is important to accept and respect differing views on the value of wildlife while, at the same time, explaining the necessity for conservation measures (Lee 1999).

Educational programs could be used to promote the use of alternative or less threatened wildlife. This seems like a viable strategy, given that species substitution has been a hallmark of the African Diaspora in the past (Voeks 2009). Indeed, it is important to remember that conservation measures should encompass all actors (policy makers, society, environmentalists and Candomblé practitioners) involved in the use and commercial exploitation of animals for magico-religious ends. As pointed by Berkes (2007), conservation cannot be conceived and implemented only at one level, because community institutions are only one layer in a multilevel world. Many authors have recognized the role of governance (the decision making process of a group of people concerned with the control of natural resources use) in environmental conservation (Schumacher 1973; McDonagh 1986). According to Tengö et al. (2007), failure to recognize local governance systems risks collapse of existing governance and of eroding ecological values, including ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being.

To understand which conservation strategies might be effective and how they could be implemented, it is important first to understand the main characteristics of the wildlife users and to seek to integrate them into conservation strategizing at an early stage. Care should be taken to avoid approaches with little or no social resonance (i.e., that may be perceived as ideological or culturally imperialistic). In addition, measures that do not directly involve modifying the behavior of the local populations should be considered, such as controlling illegal wildlife trade opportunities for the integration of cultural and spiritual values in conservation and ecosystem management.