An orangutan appeared to cure a wound with a tropical plant’s medicine, the latest illustration of how some animals try to heal themselves with natural therapies, scientists revealed Thursday.
Scientists observed Rakus plucking and chewing leaves from a medicinal plant commonly used in Southeast Asia to alleviate pain and inflammation. The adult male orangutan then used his fingers to apply the plant juices to an injury on his right cheek. According to a new study published in Scientific Reports, he then used the chewed plant as a makeshift bandage to cover the open lesion.
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Previous research has shown that various species of great apes forage for medications in woods to heal themselves, but scientists have never observed an animal treat itself in this manner.
“This is the first time that we have observed a wild animal applying a quite potent medicinal plant directly to a wound,” said co-author Isabelle Laumer, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany.
Ulil Azhari, a co-author and field researcher at the Suaq Project in Medan, Indonesia, documented the orangutan’s unusual behavior in 2022. Photographs demonstrate that the animal’s wound healed successfully within a month.
Scientists have been studying orangutans in Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park since 1994, but they had not previously observed this behavior.
“It’s a single observation,” said Emory University scientist Jacobus de Roode, who did not participate in the study. “But often we learn about new behaviors by starting with a single observation.”
“Very likely it’s self-medication,” said de Roode, adding that the orangutan exclusively applied the herb to the wound and not the rest of his body.
Co-author Caroline Schuppli of Max Planck speculates that Rakus might have picked up the strategy from other orangutans living outside the park and not under regular observation.
Rakus was born and grew up outside the research area. Scientists believe the orangutan sustained injuries during a conflict with another animal. It’s unclear whether Rakus previously handled other injuries.
Scientists have previously observed other monkeys using plants to cure themselves.
Bornean orangutans massaged their bodies with secretions from a medicinal plant, possibly to relieve pain or repel parasites.
Chimpanzees in many regions have been recorded chewing on the branches of bitter-tasting plants to ease their stomachs. Gorillas, chimps, and bonobos ingest tough leaves whole to eliminate stomach parasites.
“If this behavior exists in some of our closest living relatives, what could that tell us about how medicine first evolved?” Tara Stoinski, president and chief scientific officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, claimed she had no involvement with the study.
