Abstract: The domestication of wild medicinal animals and the research of alternative resources for rare and endangered animal medicines are major national tasks and the fundamental ways to balance the contradiction between animal protection and health needs. This paper summarizes the history and current situation of animal medicine resources and substitution research, and proposes alternative methods for the substitution of precious animal medicines, such as domestication and breeding of wild medicinal animals, substitution of medicinal herbs with similar medicinal properties and efficacy based on the theory of Chinese medicine, substitution of herbs of the same genus or close relatives based on the kinship of animal species, synthetic substitution based on the combination of medicinal components, and synthetic substitution based on biological technology. The aim is to provide reference and guidance for the research on the substitution of precious animal medicines and to achieve the sustainable development and utilization of animal medicine resources.