Wild chimpanzees eat plants that have pain-relieving and anti-bacterial properties to heal themselves, according to scientists.
They described their “detective work” in the forests of Uganda – observing animals that appeared injured or sick to work out whether they were self-medicating with plants.
When an injured animal sought out something specific from the forest to eat, the researchers collected samples of that plant and had it analysed. Most of the plants tested turned out to have antibacterial properties.
The scientists, who published their findings in the journal PLOS One, think the chimps could even help in the search for new medicines.
“We can’t test everything in these forests for their medicinal properties, lead researcher Dr Elodie Freymann, from the University of Oxford, said. “So why not test the plants that we have this information about – plants the chimps are seeking out?”
Over the past four years, Dr Freymann has spent months at a time following and carefully observing two communities of wild chimpanzees in Budongo Central Forest Reserve.
As well as looking for signs of pain – an animal limping or holding its body in an unusual way – she and her colleagues collected samples of droppings and urine to check for illness and infection.
They paid particular attention when an injured or ill chimpanzee sought out something they do not normally eat – such as tree bark or fruit skin.
“We were looking for these behavioural clues that the plants might be medicinal,” Dr Freymann explained.
She described one particular chimp – a male – that had a badly wounded hand.
“He wasn’t using the hand to walk, he was limping,” she recalled. While the rest of this animal’s group were sitting around eating, the injured chimp limped away looking for ferns. “He was the only chimp to
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