First Documented Case of Orangutan Using Plant to Treat Face Wound
A male orangutan has scientists going bananas — ’cause the primate treated his face wound with a medicinal plant … which seems to have been intentional, a first for scientists to observe.
The primate hails from Indonesia — its name is Rakus, BTW — and researchers say it got into a fight back in 2022 … which left him with a particularly bad face wound in the form of a bad gash near his right eye.
Officials followed Rakus around for the next few days and observed some bizarre behavior for an ape … seeing the orangutan chewing up a particular liana plant — which is not normal food for this species. As it turns out … the plant ended up having healing powers.
Isabelle Laumer
Scientists say, on at least one occasion, Rakus took some of the chewed paste and applied it to his cut … apparently using the plant as a treatment for the cut and doing so purposely. If accurate, it marks the first time an animal’s been spotted applying medicine to a skin wound.
Seems like Rakus found the miracle cure BTW … ’cause the wound never got infected and closed up in about a month!
What scientists don’t yet know … whether this is something Rakus stumbled upon accidentally — or if it’s cultural/learned behavior all orangutans are taught/inherently know as instinct.
Researchers have seen animals using medicine before, FWIW … but never as intentionally as this instance seems to be. A group of orangutans in Borneo in 2008 were spotted rubbing a paste on themselves also used by locals to combat joint pain — but there was no clear reason why those apes were doing so at the time. In other words … it appeared to be random.
If Rakus and co. are smarter than they’re letting on … get ready for ‘Planet of the Apes.’