Latest news with #ElodieFreymann
The Star
22-05-2025
- Health
- The Star
Hygiene is important among chimpanzees, even after sex!
Among the chimpanzees, the spirit of mutual aid and solidarity extends to hygiene and personal care. — Photo: Andyworks/ Getty Images, via ETX Daily Up Wiping after using the toilet or cleaning up after sex is basic hygiene for humans. However, researchers have observed some surprisingly similar behavior in chimpanzees, shedding new light on the evolutionary roots of such practices. Chimpanzees have already been shown to have a strong sense of empathy. But new research shows that the spirit of mutual aid and solidarity extends to hygiene and personal care. The study was carried out by a team of anthropology researchers from Oxford University and is published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Over a four-month period, the researchers observed the East African chimpanzee communities of Sonso and Waibira, in Uganda's Budongo Forest. Their observations were complemented by over 30 years of video footage shot at the Budongo Conservation Field Station (BCFS) by other researchers on site, showing how chimpanzees ensure their survival, whether by licking their wounds or extricating themselves from snares. The findings highlight a number of surprising hygiene-related behaviors exhibited by chimpanzees. As well as licking their wounds, they apply the pre-chewed leaves of plants known for their bioactive properties, and apply pressure with their fingers to treat their wounds. These primates are also capable of cleaning their genitals with leaves after mating and wiping their anus with leaves after defecation. These practices may help prevent infections, the study authors say. Understanding behavior to inform conservation efforts Even more surprisingly, the team found that chimpanzees in the Sonso community helped each other by tending to each other's wounds and even, as observed in one case, by wiping the penis of one of their peers after sexual intercourse. This spirit of solidarity applied to individuals the chimpanzees were genetically related to and those they weren't, "despite the potential risk from being exposed to pathogens," the researchers note. "Our research helps illuminate the evolutionary roots of human medicine and healthcare systems," says Dr Elodie Freymann of the University of Oxford, first author of the article, quoted in a news release. "By documenting how chimpanzees identify and utilize medicinal plants and provide care to others, we gain insight into the cognitive and social foundations of human healthcare behaviors." These findings are of interest not only for understanding the origins of human medical and hygiene practices: they could also prove invaluable for the conservation of the chimpanzee species. "As chimpanzee habitats become increasingly disrupted, and primate populations inch closer to extinction, understanding the socio-ecological pressures on chimpanzee healthcare behaviors could play a critical role in informing conservation strategies. By uncovering and protecting the resources chimpanzees need to keep themselves healthy, as well as guarding against anthropogenic risks (e.g., snares) known to negatively impact chimpanzee wellbeing, we can help buffer free-ranging chimpanzees from environmental and climatic disturbances that increasingly threaten their survival," the study concludes. — AFP Relaxnews
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Watch: Chimpanzees give each other first aid
Credit: Science News/Catherine Hobatier Chimpanzees use forest first aid to treat wounds and leaves to wipe their bottoms, scientists have found. A study, led by a University of Oxford researcher, catalogued the apes dabbing leaves on their wounds, or applying sap and chewed up plant matter to the injuries. They treated the wounds of other members of their group as well as their own. The research, published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, adds to a growing body of evidence on how apes take care of themselves in the wild. Dr Elodie Freymann, of Oxford University's School of Anthropology, said: 'We humans like to fancy ourselves unique in lots of different ways. And I think for a long time, we thought that healthcare was one of those ways in which we humans are special.' She said 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'. Dr Freymann added: 'Some of these include the use of plants that can be found here. The chimpanzees dab them on their wounds or chew the plants up, and then apply the chewed material to the open injury.' Footage of the apes treating each other was included in the study, conducted in Uganda's Budongo Forest, as well as years of observations noted by field staff, researchers and visitors. A log book dating back to the 1990s was found to include anecdotal accounts of the apes dabbing wounds, removing snares and cleaning themselves with leaves after defecating, or mating. Credit: Dr. Elodie Freymann Dr Freymann previously reported that chimpanzees appeared to seek out specific medicinal plants to treat their ailments. A 2024 paper saw researchers test the plants eaten by sick or wounded chimps and found that they often had antibacterial or anti-inflammatory properties. Meanwhile, an orangutan was recorded applying the leaves of a plant commonly used in traditional medicine to a cut on its face, seemingly to hasten healing. Gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos have also been recorded swallowing whole leaves from Aspilia plants to get rid of worms. In 2022, a community of chimpanzees in Gabon was seen putting insects onto their open wounds, potentially as a form of first aid. Chimpanzees in captivity have long been observed giving each other basic medical care, including removing splinters and cleaning each other's teeth. Finding the same tendency in the wild means 'additional evidence for empathic capacities in our closest evolutionary relatives', researchers concluded. They said it was still not clear how the behaviour was learnt or transmitted and 'establishing this will be an important step for understanding whether any components of non-human healthcare systems are influenced by local medicinal cultures'. Studying ape healthcare could even lead to the discovery of medicines, scientists believe. Dr Freymann told the BBC: '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. '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.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Washington Post
14-05-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Chimps sometimes care for others' wounds, and scientists want to know why
Primatologist Elodie Freymann arrived in Uganda's Budongo Forest in 2021 to observe the chimpanzees there and learn more about their ability to self-medicate with healing plants. But as she flipped through a field book at the site containing the observations of researchers dating back to 1993, she began to notice accounts of the chimps not just ingesting plants to self-medicate, but using them for wound care — and sometimes not always on themselves. In looking through 30 years of observations — as well as eight months of their own — Freymann and her colleagues found that the chimpanzees of Budongo have, in dozens of instances, administered first aid on themselves and others. According to Freymann, these observations, published Wednesday in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, raise questions over chimpanzees' capacity for empathy and altruism. 'It's hard to prove that a nonhuman animal has empathy because you can't sit down and have a conversation with them,' Freymann said. 'Most studies have been done in captivity. But this provides a case study, or several case studies, of chimpanzees in the wild possessing the ability to not just take care of themselves, but to transfer those skills to others.' Chimpanzees and their behaviors have long dominated the field of zoopharmacognosy, the study of nonhuman self-medication. In addition to Freymann's previous research looking into chimpanzees ingesting healing plants to self-medicate, researchers who documented chimpanzees using insects to treat themselves and others in Loango National Park in Gabon argued that their behavior was evidence of their capacity for 'prosocial behaviors,' or voluntary actions that serve the best interest of another. The research into the chimpanzees of Budongo found 34 instances of the chimpanzees practicing self-care, whether it be something as simple as licking their wounds or using leaves to wipe after a bowel movement or mating, to something more complex, such as chewing up plants and putting the material on a wound. There have been seven more instances of chimpanzees providing this sort of care on other chimpanzees and not just related kin. In 2012, a subadult male — a chimpanzee between the age of 10 and 14 — identified as PS sucked the wound on the leg of another subadult male identified as ZG. In 2008, researchers documented an adult male identified as NK removing the nylon snare off an unrelated adult female. The behavior also raises questions over whether the animals' caring skills are instinctual or acquired and then passed on through social learning, Freymann said. In 2008, researchers observed an adult female identified as NB, injured in a bout of intragroup aggression, applying a folded and chewed leaf to her wound. Her daughter, a juvenile female identified as NT, observed her mother doing this and then mimicked the behavior, chewing a leaf and then applying it to her mother's wound. 'I'm not making a case that every certain medicinal behavior is learned, but I think it's not out of the question that chimpanzees are capable of possessing medicinal culture,' she said. Given that apes are considered the closest evolutionary cousin to human beings, understanding 'cognitive and social foundations of health-care behaviors in humans requires examining their evolutionary precursors in our closest living relatives,' Freymann argued in her research article. The chimpanzee behavior observed in Budongo suggests that 'the shared ancestors that we have with chimps and apes would have likely been capable of this kind of caregiving and have the capacity to identify those in need of care and to provide that to others,' Freymann said. But Alexander Piel, a University College London associate professor of evolutionary anthropology who was not involved in Freymann's research, noted that the prosocial behavior demonstrated by chimpanzees in Budongo was very rare, which makes him reluctant to tie the findings to human evolution. There's always an inclination, he said, to connect similarities between humans and apes to evolution, and while it's always a possibility, 'we share other features with them, like our intense sociality, and we share them with non-apes.' Researchers have observed prosocial health-care behaviors among non-ape species such as elephants and dwarf mongooses, Freymann wrote in her study. 'The fact that we see them in non-closely related species suggests that there are some other drivers to this beyond humanness or human-relatedness. … Empathy is a part of the equation, but the data doesn't support that it's the ultimate driver of this behavior,' Piel said. The findings provide a good jumping-off point, Piel said, for exploration into the drivers behind this rare type of prosocial behavior — for example, why chimps are so selective in providing health care to other chimps. Freymann said there will be more studies to come, as well as more long-term monitoring. 'I think we're going to find medicinal cultures not just in chimps but in other animals as well,' Freymann said. 'There's debate always, but there are some medicinal behaviors that appear to be instinctual, the more basic ones. There are some behaviors that we've observed that I think are too complex to be instinctual.'
Express Tribune
14-05-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
Chimpanzees medicinal leaves: Scientists find species use medicinal leaves to treat wounds, help others
Listen to article Chimpanzees in Uganda's Budongo Forest have been observed treating their own wounds — and those of others — using medicinal plants, in a discovery that researchers say offers crucial insights into the evolutionary roots of human healthcare. The study, published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, details 41 cases of wound care among two chimpanzee communities, Sonso and Waibira, including seven instances of prosocial care — where chimpanzees treated unrelated individuals. These behaviours included licking wounds, applying chewed leaves, and dabbing plant matter, often using species with proven antimicrobial or healing properties. 'This is one of the first studies to systematically document self-medication and caregiving in wild chimpanzees using medicinal plants,' said lead researcher Dr Elodie Freymann of the University of Oxford. 'It expands our understanding of the cognitive and social foundations of human health behaviours.' Chimpanzees were seen cleaning genitals and wiping themselves with leaves — hygiene behaviours potentially preventing infection. Injuries in the chimpanzees, often from snares or group conflicts, were treated without human intervention, and all observed individuals recovered. Remarkably, four of the seven prosocial cases involved care for non-relatives, suggesting possible altruistic tendencies or social strategies to form alliances. The findings have implications for conservation. As habitats shrink and snares threaten populations, preserving access to medicinal plants and understanding natural behaviours like self-care could inform protective strategies for endangered primates. Researchers call the Budongo site an invaluable location for studying zoopharmacognosy — the scientific term for animal self-medication — and plan further work in South America.
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
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 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 research builds on the discovery last year that chimps seek out and eat certain plants to 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 '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 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 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 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 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."
