Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior have announced a unique observation in the animal world. In Indonesia, an orangutan has been recorded treating its wound using the medicinal properties of tropical plants.
Scientists observed an orangutan named Rakus plucking and chewing the leaves of a medicinal plant used by people throughout Southeast Asia to treat pain and inflammation.
The adult male orangutan then applied plant juices to the wound on the right cheek with his fingers. He later applied the chewed plant to cover the open wound as a temporary bandage, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Previous studies have documented several species of great ape seeking out plants in forests to treat themselves, but scientists had never seen an animal treat itself this way.
“This is the first time we have observed a wild animal applying a fairly strong medicinal plant to a wound,” said study co-author Isabella Laumer, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Germany.
Scientists have been observing orangutans in Indonesia’s Gunung Leusera National Park since 1994, but they had never seen this behavior before.
“Rakus may have learned this technique from other orangutans who live outside the park and away from the eyes of researchers,” said study co-author Carolyn Shupley.
Rakus was born and raised outside the study area, however, it is not known if he has previously treated injuries with such a technique.
However, scientists have previously recorded primates using plants to heal themselves.
Orangutans in Borneo rub themselves with the juices of medicinal plants, possibly to relieve body pain or ward off parasites.
In several places, chimpanzees have been observed chewing the shoots of special plants to settle their stomachs. On the other hand, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobo monkeys swallow the leaves of a rough species of plant to get rid of stomach parasites.
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