Wounded wild orangutan seen using plant as medicine | BBC News

A Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia has self-medicated using a paste made from plants to heal a large wound on his cheek, said scientists.

It is the first time a creature in the wild has been recorded treating an injury with a medicinal plant.

After researchers saw Rakus applying the plant poultice to his face, the wound closed up and healed in a month.

The behaviour could come from a common ancestor shared by humans and great apes, scientists have said.

The research was published by Dr. Isabelle Laumer, biologist at Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz in the journal Scientific Reports.

#Orangutan #Indonesia #BBCNews

[AliHSyed]

Saved himself an expensive trip to the vet

[TaskSwitcherify]

He was later seen in court with a lawyer, suing the orangutan that attacked him.

[LudoB]

Bro is one word away from paying taxes.

[IKingValerioI]

Every time a study comes out about animal behaviour it reveals the same trend, that animals are smarter, more sensitive and more complex than we previously realised

[alinwrd]

Damn, even animals can't afford a doctor today.

[FallouFitness_NattyEdition]

Doctors hate him for this one simple trick

[smrk]

At the end he was kissing the tree that healed him, showing gratitude.

[longhornsfreddy]

Orangutan is my favorite great ape. They look so wise and chill. Also they drive golf carts like a boss

[d.o]

Bro better heal himself privately before the irs catches him😭🙏

[Alteori]

People forget that humans are animals too.

[Salvage]

I wouldn't have known I could heal my wound with leaves available in the jungle. In a sense, the orangutan is more knowledgeable than me.

[tgerard]

only fools are surprised by this. animals are sentient, intelligent beings and deserve our respect.

[CoralSea]

He's obviously more resourceful than many humans

[maleyearsold]

Orangutan is derived from two words :
Orang = (Man, People, Human, Humanoid)
Utan = (Jungle, Forest)

[Bladeu]

The first good journalism I have seen from BBC in years

[RxckTARRR]

Since when were animals not smart ? If anything it surprises me that humans are surprised every time an animal shows its intelligence.

[lgservice]

He's not eating the leaves but chewing it finely to get the extract. Same thing some Asian natives do, chewing guava leaves and use it as poultice on a wound, as it serves as antibiotic. Another example is the extract from the leaves of moringa plant also helps stop bleeding wounds, they get the extract from pounding or chewing the leaves. Perhaps the natives have seen this behaviour from apes long before.
Just like dogs and cats eating a certain grass like paragis leaves to help relieve tummy aches. Did you know that today there are already paragis tablets available for humans.

[syanreeze]

They're called "jungle man" for a reason

[rodrigo]

This is not surprising at all to me. My dog always eats a specific herb in my farm whenever she feels ill. Nobody taught her that, and if it works or she simply gets better with time it’s besides the point, the point is she does it, she clearly thinks it helps and she’s not, by a long shot, the only animal who does it.

[BlingBlingBandido]

Seems more knowledgeable than my doctor