Wild chimpanzees filmed using forest 'first aid'
Chimpanzees in Uganda have been observed using medicinal plants - in multiple ways - to treat open wounds and other injuries.University of Oxford scientists, working with a local team in the Budongo Forest, filmed and recorded incidents of the animals using plants for first aid, both on themselves and occasionally on each other.Their research builds on the discovery last year that chimps seek out and eat certain plants to self-medicate.The scientists also compiled decades of scientific observations to create a catalogue of the different ways in which chimpanzees use "forest first aid".
Researchers say the study, which is published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, adds to a growing body of evidence that primates, including chimps, orangutans and gorillas, use natural medicines in a number of ways to stay healthy in the wild.Chimpanzees 'self-medicate' with healing plantsWounded orangutan seen using plant as medicineLead researcher Elodie Freymann explained there was "a whole behavioural repertoire that chimpanzees use when they're sick or injured in the wild - to treat themselves and to maintain hygiene"."Some of these include the use of plants that can be found here," she explained. "The chimpanzees dab them on their wounds or chew the plants up, and then apply the chewed material to the open injury."The researchers studied footage of a very young, female chimpanzee chewing plant material and applying it to an injury on its mother's body.They also found records of chimpanzees tending to the wounds of other animals they weren't related to. This is particularly exciting, explained Dr Freymann, "because it adds to the evidence that wild chimpanzees have the capacity for empathy".
Some of the hundreds of written observations that Dr Freymann and her colleagues studied came from a log book at the field station in the forest site, which is northwest of the capital, Kampala. This record of anecdotal evidence dates back to the 1990s – local field staff, researchers and visitors have written in, describing any interesting behaviour they have observed.There are stories in that book of leaf-dabbing on injuries and chimps helping other chimps to remove snares from their limbs. There are some surprisingly human-like hygiene habits: One note describes a chimpanzee using leaves to wipe itself after defecating.This team of researchers has previously identified some of the plants that chimpanzees sought out and ate when they were injured. The scientists took samples of those plants, tested them and discovered most had antibacterial properties.
Chimpanzees are not the only non-human apes with apparent knowledge of plant-based medicine. A recent study showed a wild oranguatan using chewed leaf material to heal a facial wound.Scientists think studying this wild ape behaviour - and understanding more about the plants the chimps use when they are sick or injured - could help in the search for new medicines."The more we learn about chimpanzee behaviour and intelligence, the more I think we come to understand how little we as humans actually know about the natural world," Dr Freymann told BBC News."If I were plopped down here in this forest with no food and no medicine, I doubt that I'd be able to survive very long, especially if I were injured or sick.""But chimpanzees thrive here because they know how to access the secrets of this place, and how to find all they need to survive from their surroundings."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Fighting the climate crisis is vital for national security
Former military leaders rightly point out that climate change is a matter of national security (UK must consider food and climate part of national security, say top ex-military figures, 29 May). What is required in response is a thoughtful, strategic approach that focuses in on actions that are practical and effective in these difficult times and will help build the UK government's 'strong foundations' of national security and secure borders. For example, arguably the biggest near-term threat to UK security is the 'mass population displacement' that Lt Gen Richard Nugee refers to. About 3.5 billion people live in an arc around Europe, across Africa, the Middle East and Asian countries such as Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. People in these regions are already confronting floods and heatwaves of up to 50C that are making large areas uninhabitable. Rural communities are being forced into conflict and migration, while food production and supplies to cities are being affected. Russia has already identified this as a strategic way to undermine European democracies. It stokes conflict and weaponises people – for example, pushing a wave of 4 million Syrian war refugees into Europe and Turkey. The payoff has been the rise of pro-Russian rightwing parties across Europe. With temperatures rising much faster than expected, this problem will accelerate during the present parliament. It requires immediate action as there's no way to contain it. What can we do? The UK has a strong track record of using international aid to promote farming in these vulnerable communities. The best approach is regenerative farming, which produces food, builds resilience to extreme weather and draws carbon out of the atmosphere as it rebuilds soil health. It is a strategy for mitigating, and adapting to, climate change. We must salvage and expand this programme within the remaining aid and climate finance budget. It is essential to our national security that we fight climate change at home, through decarbonisation, and that we promote regenerative agriculture at home and in frontline countries around Adam ParrHertford College, University of Oxford Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Chimpanzees are aping robots and scientists are scratching their heads
A new study reveals that chimpanzees can "catch" yawns from an android robot that imitates human facial expressions. Researchers found that chimpanzees yawned and lay down in response to yawns made by the android robot, suggesting that observing another individual yawn may act as a cue to rest. The study involved exposing 14 adult chimpanzees to an android head that simulated facial expressions, including yawns, gaping, and neutral expressions. Eight of the 14 chimpanzees yawned in response to the android's "yawn" expression, with the highest contagion occurring when the android displayed a fully wide-open mouth. The findings shed light on primates' susceptibility to contagiously induced behaviours, but the exact biological mechanisms surrounding contagious yawning remain unclear, prompting further research.
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Chimps ‘catch' yawns from a robot — and think it's time for a rest
When robots attain sentience and rise up to take over the world, the chances are that chimpanzees will find the whole thing rather boring. Or at least, this is how it could appear, after scientists found new proof that yawning can be contagious — and believe they may have finally figured out why. They did this via the unusual method of showing that chimps can 'catch' yawns from robots that have been programmed to mimic human facial expressions. Scientists remain puzzled by the contagious nature of yawning and are unsure how or why it evolved in a number of animal species that live in social groups, including mammals and even some fish. The chimpanzee study provided new proof that yawning could be contagious ALAMY Studies have found that more than two thirds of humans end up yawning after seeing someone else do the same, and that yawns can even be contagious between species, for example when a dog yawns after seeing its owner do the same. Some theories suggest that seeing a yawn triggers wiring in the brain known as mirror neurons, which not only fire when the body carries out a particular action but also when you witness someone else performing that action. Catching yawns from others may therefore play a role in a phenomenon known as 'social mirroring', used as a tool to display empathy with your companions. Scientists now think, however, that the brain may see someone else yawning and interpret it as a sign to take a rest, after their study found that chimps not only yawn when seeing a robot do the same, but also then lie down. • King of the swingers: chimps drum like jazz musicians Researchers from City St George's university in London programmed a humanoid robotic head with lifelike skin and facial features to yawn as humans do. They exposed 14 adult chimps aged between 10 and 33 at a sanctuary in Spain to the 'yawnbot', showing them a range of expressions including yawning, 'gaping' and a neutral face, with each lasting ten seconds. The 'yawnbot' used in the study CITY ST GEORGE'S, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that 'chimpanzees will both yawn and lie down in response to yawns made by an android, suggesting that it may act as a cue to rest rather than simply triggering an automatic response'. After a large yawn, the chimps tended to yawn too and would then 'gather bedding materials before lying down'. It is the first time that yawning has been shown to be contagious from an inanimate object and shows just how susceptible non-human primates are to such triggers. They found that yawning not only prompts someone to mimic the action, but sends the message that it is time for bed, suggesting that yawning had 'rest-related inferences for the chimpanzees'. It is possible that yawning can help a social group to co-ordinate their sleep cycles.
