It appears humans aren’t the only primates with a medicine cabinet. In a new paper published today, scientists document a male orangutan named Rakus using a plant with known medicinal properties to heal his facial wound. While there have been other recent reports of animals using medications in the wild, this appears to be the first report of an animal applying plants to its wounds as a type of topical ointment, the authors say.
The sighting was recorded by primate researcher Isabelle Laumer and her colleagues. Since 1994, the team has been studying wild Sumatran orangutans (I put Abelii) live at the Suaq Balimbing research site in Indonesia, a protected rainforest area where around 150 orangutans live.
During their daily observation rounds in late June 2022, they encountered Rakus who had a nasty wound on the right side of his cheekbone (the thick cheek pads that protrude in some males). The wound probably came from a recent fight with a neighboring man. Three days after his wound appeared, Rakus did something the researchers had never seen before. He swallowed, chewed, and spit out parts of a nearby plant, then dabbed his wound with the resulting plant mixture.
From all the evidence the team collected, the details were determined published Thursday’s journal Scientific Reports said Rakus apparently knew exactly what he was doing.
First of all, Rakus only applied the plant to his wounds and nowhere else on his body. He also did it repeatedly, making sure he got enough solid plant pulp to cover his entire wound – a process that took about seven minutes. He was subsequently observed eating the plant again the next day.
The actual plant used by Rakus is called Fibraurea tincture, also known as Akar Kuning. The plant has long been used by the people of the region as a traditional medicinal treatment for various medical conditions. Studies have also identified components of the plant that have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and other helpful medicinal properties. But perhaps the most dramatic evidence is that Rakus appeared to heal quickly after his plant treatment. Within five days his wound had closed and by the end of August it was barely noticeable.
There are other reports of self-medication by animals in the wild, including other primates. In a study from 2022, for example, scientists documented Chimpanzees grab flying insects from the air, chew them up, and then apply the mixture to their wounds or the wounds of other chimpanzees in the group. Some animals have also been observed eating plants that may have painkilling or healing properties. But this appears to be the first documented case of an animal actively treating its fresh wounds through the topical application of a medicinal plant, the authors say.
There are still many questions about the team’s discovery – including how Rakus learned to heal himself in the first place. The plant is rarely eaten by orangutans in the area, and in their decades of observation, the team has never seen an injured orangutan in Suaq attempting to use it in the same way as Rakus (although it is this is not the case with injuries in the area). Happens frequently).
Male orangutans tend to travel far from home, and like all resident adults, Rakus is not native to Suaq. So it’s possible that he originally learned the behavior from observing others where he grew up. But it’s also possible that Rakus is simply a smart and somewhat happy orangutan.
“Individuals may accidentally touch their wounds while feeding on this plant, thereby inadvertently applying the plant’s sap to their wounds,” said Laumer, currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Biology in Germany, via email Gizmodo. “As Fibraurea tincture Has a strong analgesic effect, sufferers may experience immediate pain relief, leading them to repeat the behavior several times.”
Laumer’s team will continue to closely monitor Suaq’s orangutans to see if other members can pull off the same trick. In the meantime, they hope their research can help us appreciate our cousins the great apes a little better.
“Observing wound treatment with a medicinal plant among our closest relatives again highlights the similarities we share. We are more similar than different,” she said. “We hope this study raises awareness that they are critically endangered in the wild.”