Wild, free roaming animals have evolved and developed a strong recognition and relate and communicate with their natural environment in a variety of ways to maintain their life force and survival. These animals use their natural environment as a source of food providing their basic nutritional needs (primary metabolites); carbohydrates, fats and proteins. They also use their environment as a source of (non-nutritional) medicine which are not essential to primary functions such as growth and reproduction, but are essential for their long-term health and well-being.

The practice of animal zoopharmacognosy behaviour is a survival tool that is used by many species, herbivores, carnivores, birds and pollinating insects that have all evolved and developed a strong recognition and relate and communicate with their natural environment in a variety of ways to maintain their life force and survival. They have developed this innate ability, as a self-preservation mechanism and survival strategy, through evolutionary adaptation, in conjunction with plant secondary metabolites sourced from aromatic and medicinal plants – some toxic, along with other organic features available to them in their environment such as grasses, tubers, minerals, algae, bark, to treat and prevent minor ailments and diseases or for self preservation and health maintenance.

This innate self-medication and self-administration behaviour of animals is known as “zoopharmacognosy”.

Seema Bhattessa, a pharmacist at the forefront of human self medication and pharmaceuticals for many years and having successful outcomes working with individual animals using the principles of zoopharmacognosy in improving animals’ health and quality of life, she is convinced that further study of this discipline would be hugely beneficial not just for the development of animal care, but also natural discoveries for our current human healthcare needs, and a wider understanding of the natural world that has potential applications for many scientific disciplines through zoopharmacognosy.

“Through the study of animal zoopharmacognosy behaviour, we can gain a better understanding not only of species health and survival and environmental symbiosis, but also the implications and benefits to a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines. These include wildlife health and conservation, ecosystems, control and management of animal-borne diseases such as zoonoses that impact public health, livestock health, their disease resistance and welfare, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and traditional medicine”.

Seema is currently engaged in researching plant secondary metabolites with grazing livestock on a chalk grassland habitat.

Zoopharmacognosy provides a window into the workings of the natural world at a time when such insight could not be more necessary. Seema Bhattessa’s unique insights into the critical and wide-ranging scientific implications of further exploration in this field are the basis for this website.

Seema also provides her services in an advisory and consulting capacity for both governemental and private organisations in the UK and overseas.