disasters and expecting regular sacrifices for the household or chiefdom ancestors. As with all Nyamwezi, the Sukuma, being agriculturalists, ridged their fields to accommodate the fertile but rather arid region. At the same time they had herds, having acquired them from the Tatoga people, but since "mixed" farming was practiced they were not considered pastoralists. Sukumaland also contained and used iron deposits, re-exporting some 150,000 iron hoes to Tabora. Culture The Sukuma believe in spirit possession and have a holistic view the world as interconnected with all living things, natural and supernatural. Traditional medicine The Sukuma are one of many ethnic groups who use animals in their traditional medicine, also known as "zootherapy." Like other African groups including the Eswatini Inyangas and Bight of Benin, many believe that traditional medicines derived from animals are more effective than Western-style medicine. Plants and animals have been the basis for Sukuma medicine for centuries; however, nowadays plant medicines are used more. The Sukuma people use a system of naming that allows them to distinguish animals according to their medical purposes. Healers organize faunal medicines by first taking a list of known diseases and their symptoms, then making another list of plants, animals, and their healing properties. Within the communities, healers are the ones who direct what and how each animal will be used. For example, pangolins are believed to be a sign for a good harvest year, so healers will sell pangolin scales to protect crops. Because snakes and porcupines are a danger to people and crops in Sukumaland, medicine men and healers captured them to be used as entertainment. There is little information on the Sukuma tribes' use of animals in their medicine because most of the research that has been done on the medicinal practices of this tribe has been plant based. A study was conducted in the Busega District of Tanzania, an area comprising the Serengeti Game Reserve and Lake Victoria, to determine which faunal resources healers use to treat illnesses within the community. Many of the traditional medicines, referred to as dawa, are no longer practiced, as many Sukuma tribe members rely more on Western-style medicine. The biggest threat to conservation in Tanzania is the legal and illegal trafficking of wild animals for pets. There are also weak policies for regulating the census of endangered animals. Traditional healers do not pose as big of a threat to conservation efforts