They aren’t quite ready to operate a jungle clinic, but new research indicates that wild chimpanzees practice medicine.
Fifty-one chimps living in two Ugandan villages appear to choose edible plants based on their medical properties, according to research led by Elodie Freymann of the University of Oxford.
While the chimps were sick, they appeared to incorporate particular plants into their diet that they did not ordinarily consume while healthy.
Freymann’s team felt this could be a form of self-medication, so they evaluated the plants’ pharmacological qualities in the lab.
In another case, a chimp with a parasite infection was observed eating the bark of the cat-thorn tree (Scutia myrtina).
This natural medicine appears to benefit the chimps, and the substances found in these plants may offer promise for treating human illnesses, according to the Oxford study.
“In this paper, we demonstrate how watching and learning from our primate cousins may fast-track the discovery of novel medicines while emphasizing the importance of protecting our forest pharmacies,” they penned.
This isn’t the first time scientists have seen highly advanced apes practicing medicine. In another recent case, an orangutan in Borneo was photographed putting a medicinal plant into a facial wound to speed up healing.
