An Orangutan Took Care of His Own Wound!

In Indonesia, a Sumatran orangutan self-treated a wound with a medicinal plant, an act that has never been observed in more than twenty years of monitoring.

“[This] is the first observation of a wild animal actually treating his wound precisely with a medical plant,” explains Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the study’s lead author.

Rakus, the orangutan in question, chewed the stems and leaves of Akar Kuning – Fibraurea tinctoria, or yellow root – without swallowing it, applying the juice to the open wound on his right cheek, just below his eye. He repeated the exercise for five days, after which the wound was closed. A month after the self-treatment, there were no signs of infection. Akar Kuning has medicinal qualities to treat conditions such as diabetes, dysentery, and malaria. The plant has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, antioxidant, painkilling, and anticarcinogenic properties. Self-medication for wounds among humans dates back to 2200 B.C.E. “It shows that orangutans and humans share knowledge,” says study co-author Caroline Schuppli, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior.