Chimpanzees self-medicate with medicinal plants from the forest – DW – 06/21/2024

Wild chimpanzees sometimes eat plants that can treat or alleviate disease symptoms, but it is difficult to determine whether they do so intentionally, although the results of a new study that publishes Plos One, They suggest looking for certain plants for their healing properties.

Research on chimpanzees conducted by the University of Oxford (UK) shows that when they are sick, they eat tree bark, dead wood and ferns, which have antibiotic and anti-inflammatory effects.

Observations and pharmacological tests

The authors combined observations of chimpanzee behavior (Pan-troglodytes) with pharmacological tests of the potentially medicinal plants they eat, for which they observed the behavior and health of 51 specimens from two communities in the Budongo Central Forest Reserve in Uganda.

They also collected plant extracts from 13 species of trees and herbs in the sanctuary that they suspected the chimpanzees might use to self-medicate, and analyzed their anti-inflammatory and antibiotic properties.

These included plants that were observed to be eaten by sick or injured chimpanzees that were not part of their normal diet, as well as others that previous research had suggested could be eaten for their medicinal properties.

Researchers found that 88% of plant extracts inhibited bacterial growth, and 33% had anti-inflammatory properties.

Unusual feeding episodes in chimpanzees

Over 116 days of field observations, the researchers recorded several unusual feeding episodes and self-medicating behaviors.

Thus, a male chimpanzee with an injured arm foraged and ate fern leaves, which may have helped reduce pain and swelling, and an individual with a parasitic infection ate the bark of a fern (Scutia myrtina).

“Whether these resources are consumed intentionally in the form of therapeutic self-medication or passively as therapeutic food should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account behavioral observations,” the researchers wrote.

Medicinal plants growing in the Budongo Central Forest Reserve could also be useful in developing new drugs to address problems associated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and chronic inflammatory diseases, the authors suggest.

FEW (EFE, Plos One, new scientist)