Chimpanzees ‘self-medicate’ with healing plants
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.
