Rakus, SUAQ Project. Laumer et al, (2024) Sci Rep 14,
We know orangutans as the ‘gardeners of the forest’, but what about ‘doctors of the forest’ too? Earlier this year, scientists observed a male orangutan called Rakus using a plant called Akar Kuning to heal a wound on his face. Akar Kuning is a well-known anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial plant that is used locally by humans to treat malaria and diabetes. This makes the discovery even more impressive!
Although self-medication in animals is fairly common—such as chimpanzees eating bitter-tasting plants to treat intestinal parasites, or Titi monkeys rubbing their hair with leaves known to possess antiviral and antifungal properties. The active treatment of a wound with a medicinal plant is something new entirely. That was, until Rakus came along!
Three days after receiving a facial injury, Rakus selectively ripped off the leaves of the plant. He chewed on them and repeatedly applied the resulting juice onto the facial wound. As a last step, he fully covered the wound with the chewed leaves. Amazingly, the wound closed up and healed in a month. This was the first documented case of a wild animal treating a wound with a medicinal plant.
This was a truly incredible discovery and sheds light into the origins of human wound care practices. This kind of medicinal know-how once again shows how intelligent orangutans are, and how much there is to learn about, and from them!
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