Scientists observed a wild male orangutan repeatedly rubbing chewed-up leaves of a medicinal plant on a facial wound in a forest reserve in Indonesia.
It’s the first known observation of a wild animal using a plant to treat a wound, and adds to evidence that humans are not alone in using plants for medicinal purposes.
The male orangutan, Rakus, lives in Gunung Leuser National Park on the island of Sumatra and is thought to be around 35 years old.For years researchers have followed orangutans like him on his travels through the forest, threading his way through the canopy in search of fruits to eat.
Scientists first noticed a wound on Rakus’ face on June 25, 2022, when they saw his self-medication behaviour begin.
“Once I heard about it, I got extremely excited,” said Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist with Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour in Germany, in part because records of animals medicating themselves are rare — even more so when it comes to treating injuries. She and colleagues detailed the discovery in a study published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.
The plant Rakus used, known as akar kuning or yellow root, is used by people throughout Southeast Asia to treat malaria, diabetes and other conditions. Research shows it has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
Orangutans rarely eat the plant. But in this case, Rakus ingested a small amount and also coated the wound several times. Five days after the wound was noticed, it had closed, and less than a month later “healed without any signs of infection,” Dr Laumer said.
Primates have been observed appearing to treat wounds in the past, but not with plants. A group of more than two dozen chimpanzees in Gabon in Central Africa have been seen chewing up and applying flying insects to their wounds, said Simone Pika, an expert on animal cognition at Osnabruck University in Germany who documented that observation.
Orangutans have been spotted using medicinal plants in a different way: In 2017, six orangutans in Borneo rubbed chewed-up leaves of a shrub with anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties onto their legs and arms, probably to soothe sore muscles.
Dr Laumer hopes the study of Rakus will help create more appreciation — and desire to protect — the Sumatran orangutan, a critically endangered species. “There are so many things we still don’t know about these apes,” she said.
It’s the first known observation of a wild animal using a plant to treat a wound, and adds to evidence that humans are not alone in using plants for medicinal purposes.
The male orangutan, Rakus, lives in Gunung Leuser National Park on the island of Sumatra and is thought to be around 35 years old.For years researchers have followed orangutans like him on his travels through the forest, threading his way through the canopy in search of fruits to eat.
Scientists first noticed a wound on Rakus’ face on June 25, 2022, when they saw his self-medication behaviour begin.
“Once I heard about it, I got extremely excited,” said Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist with Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour in Germany, in part because records of animals medicating themselves are rare — even more so when it comes to treating injuries. She and colleagues detailed the discovery in a study published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.
The plant Rakus used, known as akar kuning or yellow root, is used by people throughout Southeast Asia to treat malaria, diabetes and other conditions. Research shows it has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
Orangutans rarely eat the plant. But in this case, Rakus ingested a small amount and also coated the wound several times. Five days after the wound was noticed, it had closed, and less than a month later “healed without any signs of infection,” Dr Laumer said.
Primates have been observed appearing to treat wounds in the past, but not with plants. A group of more than two dozen chimpanzees in Gabon in Central Africa have been seen chewing up and applying flying insects to their wounds, said Simone Pika, an expert on animal cognition at Osnabruck University in Germany who documented that observation.
Orangutans have been spotted using medicinal plants in a different way: In 2017, six orangutans in Borneo rubbed chewed-up leaves of a shrub with anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties onto their legs and arms, probably to soothe sore muscles.
Dr Laumer hopes the study of Rakus will help create more appreciation — and desire to protect — the Sumatran orangutan, a critically endangered species. “There are so many things we still don’t know about these apes,” she said.