Although there are documented cases of animals self-medicating, there are no known cases of animals using herbs to treat their wounds. However, in recent observations by biologists at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Germany and the National University in Indonesia, a male Sumatran orangutan was recorded treating a facial injury with herbs.
He ate and used repeatedly the juice of a climbing plant that has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties and is widely used in traditional medicine. He also covered the entire wound with a mesh of green herbs. Therefore, it is thought that medical treatment of wounds may have arisen from a common ancestor shared by humans and orangutans.
While pain and avoidance behavior can be observed regularly in animals other than humans, self-medication in the form of ingesting certain parts of plants is common among animals but occurs at low frequencies. Great apes, humans’ closest relatives, are known to use certain plants to treat parasites and to rub plant material on their skin to treat muscle pain. A group of chimpanzees in Gabon were recently observed applying insects to wounds. However, the effectiveness of such behavior is still unknown. Treatment of wounds with a biologically active substance has not yet been documented.
Research on orangutan wound healing
In a published study Scientific ReportsCognitive and evolutionary biologists from the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany, and the National University of Indonesia report evidence of active wound healing with a medicinal plant in a wild male Sumatran orangutan. The study, led by Caroline Shuppley and Isabelle Laumer, was conducted at the Suaq Balimbing Research Area in Indonesia, a protected rainforest area that is home to approximately 150 endangered Sumatran orangutans. “During our daily observations of orangutans, we noticed that a male named Rakus had a wound on his face, most likely from a fight with a neighboring male,” says Isabelle Laumer (MPI-AB), first author of the study.
Three days after the injury, Rakus selectively collected the leaves of a vine commonly known as Akar Kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria), chewed them, and then repeatedly applied the resulting juice exactly to the wound on the face for several minutes. As a final step, he covered the wound completely with chewed leaves.
Laumer says: “This and similar species of ivy, found in the rainforests of Southeast Asia, are known for their analgesic and antipyretic properties and are used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments such as malaria. Analysis of the plant’s chemical compounds has shown that it has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antioxidant and wound healing properties.” “It shows the presence of furanoditerpenoids and protoberberine alkaloids, which are known to have other biological effects important for
Discussing behavioral intentions and origins
Observations made in the following days showed no signs of infection in the wound, and five days later the wound had already closed. “It is also interesting that Rakus rested more than usual during the injury. Sleep has a positive effect on wound healing, as growth hormone release, protein synthesis and cell division increase during sleep,” he explains.
As with any self-medicating behavior in animals, the case described in this study raises the question of how intentional this behavior is and how it occurs. “Rakus’s behavior appeared to be intentional because he selectively applied the plant juice to the wound on his face on the right side rather than to other parts of his body. This behavior was repeated several times until the wound was completely covered, not only with the sap of the plant, but later with harder plant material. The whole process took a lot of time.” ” says Laumer.
“It is quite possible to treat wounds with help. Fibraurea tinctoria Orangutans at Suaq arose through individual innovation,” says Caroline Shupley, senior author of the study. “Orangutans at the site rarely eat the plant. However, people may accidentally touch their wounds while feeding this plant, and therefore the sap of the plant may accidentally infect their wounds. Because Fibraurea tinctoria ‘As it has a strong pain-relieving effect, people can get immediate relief from pain, compelling them to repeat the behavior several times.’
Wound healing is possible as this behavior has not been observed before Fibraurea tinctoria so far it has been absent from the behavioral repertoire of the Suaq orangutan population. Like all adult males in the area, Rakus was not born on Suak, and his parentage is unknown. “Male orangutans disperse long distances from their birthplace during or after adolescence to establish a new habitat in another area or to move between the habitat of others,” explains Shupley. “Therefore, it is possible that this behavior is exhibited by more individuals in the natal population outside the Suaq study area.”
This possibly innovative behavior is the first report of active wound healing with a biologically active substance in a great ape and provides new insights into the existence of self-healing in our closest relatives and the evolutionary origins of wound healing in general. “The treatment of human wounds was probably first mentioned in a medical text dating back to 2200 B.C., which described cleaning, plastering and dressing wounds with specific wound care agents,” says Shupley. “Since active forms of wound healing are common not only in humans but also in African and Asian great apes, it is possible that there was a common underlying mechanism for recognizing and applying substances with medicinal or functional properties to wounds, and that our last common ancestor already exhibited similar forms of ointment behavior.” .
Source: Port Altele
