Orangutan plays doctor, heals himself

  • 📰 ScienceMagazine
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 68 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 31%
  • Publisher: 63%

United States Headlines News

United States Latest News,United States Headlines

Ape applies a known medicinal plant to his wound

Rakus, a Sumatran orangutan, suffered a wound on his face but fully healed after treating himself with a medicinal plant.. Now, researchers have observed another stunning similarity: an orangutan in Sumatra using a medicinal plant to heal a wound. The find, published today in

Anecdotal reports have also described chimps treating wounds with poulticelike medicinal plants. Now, researchers have scientifically documented such behavior by another ape species in the Suaq Balimbing research area in Gunung Leuser National Park. Jointly operated by the University of Zurich, the National University in Indonesia, and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior , the forested reserve is populated by up to 150 Sumatran orangutans including an adult male nicknamed Rakus.

“It’s very likely that he was involved in a fight,” says Isabelle Laumer, a cognitive biologist at MPGAB and lead author of the new study., a climbing liana known as akar kuning. The plant contains dozens of bioactive chemical compounds and is used throughout Southeast Asia and China as a painkiller, fever reducer, and diuretic. Orangutans rarely eat, but on that day the injured Rakus spent more than half an hour feeding on the leaves.

The wound closed within 8 days and fully healed within 1 month, leaving only a faint scar. In their paper, the researchers suggest Rakus’s behavior might be “a form of self-medication that reduces pain, prevents inflammation, and accelerates wound healing.” Orangutans are social learners, and the researchers speculate that wound treatment might be cultural knowledge spread from one ape to another.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 285. in US

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Exclusive Ape x Mecha-Ape: New World Order Trailer Previews the Kaiju MockbusterComingSoon is debuting an exclusive Ape x Mecha-Ape: New World Order Trailer from the latest mockbuster from The Asylum.
Source: comingsoonnet - 🏆 578. / 51 Read more »

Ape x Mecha-Ape: New World Order Movie Release Date AnnouncedThe movie is set to release in theaters and digitally on April 5, 2024. The film follows a global cabal of world leaders awakening an ancient creature and mankind's only hope is an alliance between a giant ape and his mechanical arch-nemesis. Directed by Marc Gottlieb and starring Sean Young, Ashley Dakin, and Jared Rivet.
Source: comingsoonnet - 🏆 578. / 51 Read more »

New 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' Movie to Continue Caesar's LegacyThe upcoming 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' movie will continue the legacy of the messianic ape Caesar, as a new ape leader adopts his name. Set 300 years after Caesar's death, the film will follow a young ape named Noa as he enters an ape kingdom led by a tyrannical bonobo named Proximus Caesar, who has weaponized electricity and hunts humans.
Source: screenrant - 🏆 7. / 94 Read more »

Endangered Bornean Orangutan Baby Born at Busch Gardens Tampa BayA baby Bornean orangutan, listed as critically endangered, has been born at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida. The mother, Luna, underwent a cesarean section and is currently recovering. The birth is a significant milestone in orangutan conservation efforts.
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »

Endangered Bornean orangutan born at Busch Gardens in FloridaAn endangered Bornean orangutan baby has been welcomed into the world at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida. The female newborn was delivered by cesarean section on Saturday, weighing just over three pounds (1.3 kilograms), park officials said. The mother, Luna, is recuperating from surgery and will be reunited with the baby once she is stabilized.
Source: AP - 🏆 728. / 51 Read more »

Endangered Bornean orangutan born at Busch Gardens in FloridaAn endangered Bornean orangutan baby has been welcomed into the world at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida.
Source: KPRC2 - 🏆 80. / 68 Read more »