The excessive intelligence ranges of orangutans have lengthy been recognised, partly because of their sensible abilities comparable to utilizing instruments to crack nuts and forage for bugs. However new analysis suggests the primate has one other useful talent in its repertoire: making use of medicinal herbs.
Researchers say they’ve noticed a male Sumatran orangutan treating an open facial wound with sap and chewed leaves from a plant identified to have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.
It isn’t the primary time wild animals have been noticed self-medicating: amongst different examples, Bornean orangutans have been seen rubbing their legs and arms with chewed leaves from a plant utilized by people to deal with sore muscle mass, whereas chimpanzees have been recorded chewing crops identified to deal with worm infections and making use of bugs to wounds.
Nevertheless, the brand new discovery is the primary time a wild animal has been noticed treating open wounds with a substance identified to have medicinal properties.
“Within the chimpanzee case they used bugs and sadly it was by no means came upon whether or not these bugs actually promote wound therapeutic. Whereas in our case, the orangutan used the plant, and this plant has identified medical properties,” mentioned Dr Caroline Schuppli, senior writer of the analysis primarily based at Max Planck Institute of Animal Conduct in Germany.
The group say the findings provide perception into the origins of human wound care – the remedy of which was first talked about in a medical manuscript courting to 2200BC.
“It undoubtedly exhibits that these primary cognitive capacities that you have to give you a behaviour like this … have been current on the time of our final widespread ancestor probably,” mentioned Schuppli. “In order that that reaches again very, very far.”
Writing within the journal Scientific Stories, Schuppli and colleagues report how they made the invention whereas working in a analysis space of a protected rainforest in Indonesia.
The group describe how, whereas monitoring a male Sumatran orangutan referred to as Rakus, they observed he had a recent facial wound – in all probability the results of a scrap with one other male. Three days later, Rakus was seen feeding on the stem and leaves of Fibraurea tinctoria – a sort of liana climbing vine.
Then he did one thing sudden.
“13 minutes after Rakus had began feeding on the liana, he started chewing the leaves with out swallowing them and utilizing his fingers to use the plant juice from his mouth straight on to his facial wound,” the researchers write.
Not solely did Rakus repeat the actions, however shortly afterwards he smeared all the wound with the chewed leaves till it was totally lined. 5 days later the facial wound was closed, whereas inside a number of weeks it had healed, leaving solely a small scar.
The group say the plant utilized by Rakus is understood to include substances with antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, antioxidant, pain-killing and anticarcinogenic properties, amongst different attributes, whereas this and associated liana species are utilized in conventional drugs “to deal with numerous ailments, comparable to dysentery, diabetes and malaria”.
It stays unclear whether or not Rakus figured the method out for himself or realized it from one other orangutan, though it has not been seen in another particular person.
Schuppli added that Rakus appeared to have used the plant deliberately.
“It exhibits that he, to some extent, has the cognitive capacities that he must deal with the wound with some medically energetic crops,” she mentioned. “However we actually don’t understand how a lot he understands.”
