AN orangutan was spotted rubbing the juice of a pain-relieving plant into a wound — the first wild animal seen actively treating an injury.
Scientists say the jungle doc’s expertise hints at how early humans discovered medicine.
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Previous studies saw apes eating medicinal plants or wiping bleeding wounds with leaves or insects, but never treating a cut directly.
Experts watched Rakus, a nearly 40-year-old wild ape in Indonesia, tend to a deep wound to his cheek.
He rubbed it with chewed leaves from the Akar Kuning plant — used in human herbal medicine to kill bacteria and reduce pain and swelling.
Dr Isabelle Laumer said: “This is the first documented case of active wound treatment with a plant species known to contain biologically-active substances by a wild animal.
“Rakus’s behaviour appeared intentional as he selectively treated his facial wound and no other body parts with the plant juice. It was repeated several times and took a considerable time.
“Rakus rested more than usual, and sleep positively affects wound healing.”
Dr Laumer said Rakus avoided infection, the wound closed in five days and healed in a month.
Experts could not tell whether he learned what to do from other orangutans — or if he had done it before.
Dr Caroline Schluppi, of Germany’s Max Planck Institute, added: “It is possible in humans and apes there exists a common underlying mechanism for the recognition and application of substances with medical properties to wounds.”
The research, from summer 2022, was revealed in journal Scientific Reports.