Latest news with #Freymann
Hamilton Spectator
20-05-2025
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
With fewer ordinations, seminaries find ways to serve young professionals in other fields
PRINCETON, N.J. (RNS) — On a Tuesday evening in early April, an audience sat enraptured in Princeton Theological Seminary's dining hall as, one by one, adults in their 20s walked up to a platform, took the microphone and shared a story. 'I realized that if God made our bodies this intricate, shouldn't the care we give others be just as intricate?' Jewel Koshy asked. 'I allowed Jesus to look at me, and I looked at him, and my life was completely transformed,' Betty Freymann said. 'How can we stay inquisitive in a world where excellence is expected and assimilation is often rewarded?' Ray'Chel Wilson asked. 'For me, I take my questions to God.' Despite the setting, the young adults speaking weren't seminarians : They were entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, health care workers and other professionals at a summit as part of the Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network, a new initiative from Princeton Theological Seminary that aims to equip young Christian leaders to find their calling beyond parish ministry. ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ 'If you lead in the public sector, if you are an artist or a business leader or an educator, and you're deeply motivated by your Christian faith, we think theological education has something to offer there as well,' said Shari Oosting, project director of the Polaris Network. In recent years, many U.S. seminaries have faced existential threats fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and a changing religious landscape. As organized religion continues to fade in popularity among many Gen Z, some seminaries are downsizing, combining and embracing online and hybrid models. They are also evolving, offering different certificate programs or degrees tailored for non-clergy students. Some seminaries target retired or second-career students, while others refuse to give up on young adults, instead designing programs to help them live out their spirituality beyond seminary walls. Freymann, 28, a Dallas-based tech consulting manager and a participant at the Polaris summit, said meeting other Christians doing 'the Lord's work' in the secular world has made her feel less alone. 'I love that we're pushing to form Christian leaders. Not Catholic, not Presbyterian, not Episcopal leaders, but Christian leaders,' said Freymann, who is Catholic and hosts a Spanish-language podcast for Latino Catholics. That Monday (March 31), Freymann gathered in the seminary's library with roughly 30 other young adults. The room was abuzz as participants responded to discussion prompts, wove strands of yarn for an interactive art project and heard a lecture about the church in the modern world. Throughout the summit, each shared eight-minute personal stories about Christian leadership in groups or at the final storytelling festival. 'Something that really stood out to me is the fact that everyone is a young adult,' said participant Kennedy Maye, a 22-year-old psychology major at the University of Kentucky. Raised as a nondenominational Christian, she often discusses God with other young adults in her life but said she often finds herself 'defending God.' Here, it was different. Launched in 2023 with a $4 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, the Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network convenes these cohorts while also offering sub-grants to fund their local ministry efforts and provide workshops on topics like mental health, vocational discernment and sustainability. The aim is to combat isolation among young Christian leaders and counteract the narrative that all young people are losing their faith. 'In a lot of ways, these young people are teaching us how to be a seminary for the next generation,' said the Rev. Kenda Creasy Dean, the Mary D. Synnott professor of Youth, Church and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary and one of the architects of Polaris. Built to train pastors, many seminaries like Princeton are increasingly welcoming students looking to discern their calling rather than intending to work at a congregation. Dean said she has observed that pastoral credentials don't have the draw they used to for students, which is mirrored in trends at the seminary. While enrollment in its Master of Divinity program — a prerequisite for many seeking ordination — has declined in recent years (down to 155 students in the 2024-2025 school year, from 245 students in 2020-2021), Princeton's master's programs for leaders interested in theology/sustainability and in justice/public life have grown steadily since being launched in 2023. The seminary has also seen growth in part-time, hybrid and online offerings. And this year, it saw the largest incoming class of degree-pursuing students in the last five years. According to data from the Association of Theological Schools, an umbrella group of over 270 schools, Princeton isn't alone. Though enrollment in Master of Divinity programs continues to decline among ATS member schools, down roughly 14% since 2020, that dip has been offset by boosts in two-year, often customizable Master of Arts programs and non-degree enrollment, leading to an overall 1.8% increase in enrollment at ATS schools since 2020. Still, seminaries are facing significant challenges. As a result, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, an influential Evangelical Free Church school near Chicago, announced last month it will be acquired by a Canadian university and move to British Columbia. Despite financial setbacks, the school has had a transformative impact on the nearby city of Waukegan, Illinois, thanks to a young adult-centered program called Mosaic Ministries. Mosaic Ministries began praying with and building relationships with Waukegan churches in 2010. With the help of the Lilly Endowment, it became a formal collaboration of 12 churches in 2017, with the purpose of developing ministries with young adults. By listening to what young people asked for — space to ask hard questions and do life together, not just host another barbecue, for example — churches adapted. 'As the years went by, our churches grew healthier, they grew more intergenerational, they grew more missional, and this collaboration of churches shifted from individual churches to a network,' said the Rev. Daniel Hartman, co-director of Mosaic Ministries at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In 2022, that network came together to form Refined, a program for young adults from each of the 12 churches. Across 18 months, the young adults received mentoring, attended retreats and became involved in Waukegan-based community projects. Though Adi Camacho grew up attending a Baptist church in Waukegan, she joined Refined after several years away from the church. 'It was my first time getting to meet brothers and sisters who were not from my congregation that could hear my heart and be there for me and love and support me in such a godly way,' Camacho said. 'We were able to break barriers between our churches.' Camacho hosts a podcast about Mosaic Ministries' impact and pitches the program at citywide events like cleanup days, toy drives or prayer services. The city routinely looks to Mosaic to meet local needs, and Mosaic's hub, a revamped former library, is a gathering place designed to welcome young people who might be hesitant to meet at church, said Hartman. It's not yet clear how Mosaic Ministries will be impacted by the seminary's move. However, Mosaic and similar innovative seminary initiatives take a unique approach to empowering young people in their own contexts, without trying to convince them to enroll as students. For example, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Texas has created programming for both Christian and 'Christ curious' young adults. 'There are all kinds of places where young adults gather at the edges of Christian conversation,' said Melissa Wiginton, vice president for strategic engagement and partnerships at the Austin seminary. 'We know that there is a longing out there for people to be connected to something that's sturdy enough to hold them, but not so rigid that it encages them.' Since 2017, the seminary, also with the help of the Lilly Endowment, has created such spaces via its 787 Initiative, which offers faith and community engagement for young people in Austin. Mercedes Collins, who runs a recreational club, We Outside ATX, for Austin's Black community, provides input for 787's advisory council. She said young people in her network are craving spaces where their voices are heard. 'Community is a spiritual thing, right?' said Collins, who identifies as more spiritual than religious. 'We're not meant to be here alone.' 787 was a precursor to the seminary's Austin Story Project, which launched in January and will offer an in-person storytelling cohort and spiritual pilgrimages for young adults. The first pilgrimage will focus on nonviolence, where participants will visit sites connected with nuclear weapon production in the Pacific Northwest. A survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima will accompany them. 'Everybody's in a massive period of experimentation,' said Dean, of Princeton Theological Seminary. 'Desperation is a spiritual gift, and so it gives you a chance to experiment with things that, you know, 10 years ago were off the table. That's happening everywhere, and we are no different in that.'
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
With fewer ordinations, seminaries find ways to serve young professionals in other fields
PRINCETON, N.J. (RNS) — On a Tuesday evening in early April, an audience sat enraptured in Princeton Theological Seminary's dining hall as, one by one, adults in their 20s walked up to a platform, took the microphone and shared a story. 'I realized that if God made our bodies this intricate, shouldn't the care we give others be just as intricate?' Jewel Koshy asked. 'I allowed Jesus to look at me, and I looked at him, and my life was completely transformed,' Betty Freymann said. 'How can we stay inquisitive in a world where excellence is expected and assimilation is often rewarded?' Ray'Chel Wilson asked. 'For me, I take my questions to God.' Despite the setting, the young adults speaking weren't seminarians: They were entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, health care workers and other professionals at a summit as part of the Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network, a new initiative from Princeton Theological Seminary that aims to equip young Christian leaders to find their calling beyond parish ministry. ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ 'If you lead in the public sector, if you are an artist or a business leader or an educator, and you're deeply motivated by your Christian faith, we think theological education has something to offer there as well,' said Shari Oosting, project director of the Polaris Network. In recent years, many U.S. seminaries have faced existential threats fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and a changing religious landscape. As organized religion continues to fade in popularity among many Gen Z, some seminaries are downsizing, combining and embracing online and hybrid models. They are also evolving, offering different certificate programs or degrees tailored for non-clergy students. Some seminaries target retired or second-career students, while others refuse to give up on young adults, instead designing programs to help them live out their spirituality beyond seminary walls. Freymann, 28, a Dallas-based tech consulting manager and a participant at the Polaris summit, said meeting other Christians doing 'the Lord's work' in the secular world has made her feel less alone. 'I love that we're pushing to form Christian leaders. Not Catholic, not Presbyterian, not Episcopal leaders, but Christian leaders,' said Freymann, who is Catholic and hosts a Spanish-language podcast for Latino Catholics. That Monday (March 31), Freymann gathered in the seminary's library with roughly 30 other young adults. The room was abuzz as participants responded to discussion prompts, wove strands of yarn for an interactive art project and heard a lecture about the church in the modern world. Throughout the summit, each shared eight-minute personal stories about Christian leadership in groups or at the final storytelling festival. 'Something that really stood out to me is the fact that everyone is a young adult,' said participant Kennedy Maye, a 22-year-old psychology major at the University of Kentucky. Raised as a nondenominational Christian, she often discusses God with other young adults in her life but said she often finds herself 'defending God.' Here, it was different. Launched in 2023 with a $4 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, the Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network convenes these cohorts while also offering sub-grants to fund their local ministry efforts and provide workshops on topics like mental health, vocational discernment and sustainability. The aim is to combat isolation among young Christian leaders and counteract the narrative that all young people are losing their faith. 'In a lot of ways, these young people are teaching us how to be a seminary for the next generation,' said the Rev. Kenda Creasy Dean, the Mary D. Synnott professor of Youth, Church and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary and one of the architects of Polaris. Built to train pastors, many seminaries like Princeton are increasingly welcoming students looking to discern their calling rather than intending to work at a congregation. Dean said she has observed that pastoral credentials don't have the draw they used to for students, which is mirrored in trends at the seminary. While enrollment in its Master of Divinity program — a prerequisite for many seeking ordination — has declined in recent years (down to 155 students in the 2024-2025 school year, from 245 students in 2020-2021), Princeton's master's programs for leaders interested in theology/sustainability and in justice/public life have grown steadily since being launched in 2023. The seminary has also seen growth in part-time, hybrid and online offerings. And this year, it saw the largest incoming class of degree-pursuing students in the last five years. According to data from the Association of Theological Schools, an umbrella group of over 270 schools, Princeton isn't alone. Though enrollment in Master of Divinity programs continues to decline among ATS member schools, down roughly 14% since 2020, that dip has been offset by boosts in two-year, often customizable Master of Arts programs and non-degree enrollment, leading to an overall 1.8% increase in enrollment at ATS schools since 2020. Still, seminaries are facing significant challenges. As a result, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, an influential Evangelical Free Church school near Chicago, announced last month it will be acquired by a Canadian university and move to British Columbia. Despite financial setbacks, the school has had a transformative impact on the nearby city of Waukegan, Illinois, thanks to a young adult-centered program called Mosaic Ministries. Mosaic Ministries began praying with and building relationships with Waukegan churches in 2010. With the help of the Lilly Endowment, it became a formal collaboration of 12 churches in 2017, with the purpose of developing ministries with young adults. By listening to what young people asked for — space to ask hard questions and do life together, not just host another barbecue, for example — churches adapted. 'As the years went by, our churches grew healthier, they grew more intergenerational, they grew more missional, and this collaboration of churches shifted from individual churches to a network,' said the Rev. Daniel Hartman, co-director of Mosaic Ministries at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In 2022, that network came together to form Refined, a program for young adults from each of the 12 churches. Across 18 months, the young adults received mentoring, attended retreats and became involved in Waukegan-based community projects. Though Adi Camacho grew up attending a Baptist church in Waukegan, she joined Refined after several years away from the church. 'It was my first time getting to meet brothers and sisters who were not from my congregation that could hear my heart and be there for me and love and support me in such a godly way,' Camacho said. 'We were able to break barriers between our churches.' Camacho hosts a podcast about Mosaic Ministries' impact and pitches the program at citywide events like cleanup days, toy drives or prayer services. The city routinely looks to Mosaic to meet local needs, and Mosaic's hub, a revamped former library, is a gathering place designed to welcome young people who might be hesitant to meet at church, said Hartman. It's not yet clear how Mosaic Ministries will be impacted by the seminary's move. However, Mosaic and similar innovative seminary initiatives take a unique approach to empowering young people in their own contexts, without trying to convince them to enroll as students. For example, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Texas has created programming for both Christian and 'Christ curious' young adults. 'There are all kinds of places where young adults gather at the edges of Christian conversation,' said Melissa Wiginton, vice president for strategic engagement and partnerships at the Austin seminary. 'We know that there is a longing out there for people to be connected to something that's sturdy enough to hold them, but not so rigid that it encages them.' Since 2017, the seminary, also with the help of the Lilly Endowment, has created such spaces via its 787 Initiative, which offers faith and community engagement for young people in Austin. Mercedes Collins, who runs a recreational club, We Outside ATX, for Austin's Black community, provides input for 787's advisory council. She said young people in her network are craving spaces where their voices are heard. 'Community is a spiritual thing, right?' said Collins, who identifies as more spiritual than religious. 'We're not meant to be here alone.' 787 was a precursor to the seminary's Austin Story Project, which launched in January and will offer an in-person storytelling cohort and spiritual pilgrimages for young adults. The first pilgrimage will focus on nonviolence, where participants will visit sites connected with nuclear weapon production in the Pacific Northwest. A survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima will accompany them. 'Everybody's in a massive period of experimentation,' said Dean, of Princeton Theological Seminary. 'Desperation is a spiritual gift, and so it gives you a chance to experiment with things that, you know, 10 years ago were off the table. That's happening everywhere, and we are no different in that.'
Winnipeg Free Press
20-05-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
With fewer ordinations, seminaries find ways to serve young professionals in other fields
PRINCETON, N.J. (RNS) — On a Tuesday evening in early April, an audience sat enraptured in Princeton Theological Seminary's dining hall as, one by one, adults in their 20s walked up to a platform, took the microphone and shared a story. 'I realized that if God made our bodies this intricate, shouldn't the care we give others be just as intricate?' Jewel Koshy asked. 'I allowed Jesus to look at me, and I looked at him, and my life was completely transformed,' Betty Freymann said. 'How can we stay inquisitive in a world where excellence is expected and assimilation is often rewarded?' Ray'Chel Wilson asked. 'For me, I take my questions to God.' Despite the setting, the young adults speaking weren't seminarians: They were entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, health care workers and other professionals at a summit as part of the Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network, a new initiative from Princeton Theological Seminary that aims to equip young Christian leaders to find their calling beyond parish ministry. ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ 'If you lead in the public sector, if you are an artist or a business leader or an educator, and you're deeply motivated by your Christian faith, we think theological education has something to offer there as well,' said Shari Oosting, project director of the Polaris Network. In recent years, many U.S. seminaries have faced existential threats fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and a changing religious landscape. As organized religion continues to fade in popularity among many Gen Z, some seminaries are downsizing, combining and embracing online and hybrid models. They are also evolving, offering different certificate programs or degrees tailored for non-clergy students. Some seminaries target retired or second-career students, while others refuse to give up on young adults, instead designing programs to help them live out their spirituality beyond seminary walls. Freymann, 28, a Dallas-based tech consulting manager and a participant at the Polaris summit, said meeting other Christians doing 'the Lord's work' in the secular world has made her feel less alone. 'I love that we're pushing to form Christian leaders. Not Catholic, not Presbyterian, not Episcopal leaders, but Christian leaders,' said Freymann, who is Catholic and hosts a Spanish-language podcast for Latino Catholics. That Monday (March 31), Freymann gathered in the seminary's library with roughly 30 other young adults. The room was abuzz as participants responded to discussion prompts, wove strands of yarn for an interactive art project and heard a lecture about the church in the modern world. Throughout the summit, each shared eight-minute personal stories about Christian leadership in groups or at the final storytelling festival. 'Something that really stood out to me is the fact that everyone is a young adult,' said participant Kennedy Maye, a 22-year-old psychology major at the University of Kentucky. Raised as a nondenominational Christian, she often discusses God with other young adults in her life but said she often finds herself 'defending God.' Here, it was different. Launched in 2023 with a $4 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, the Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network convenes these cohorts while also offering sub-grants to fund their local ministry efforts and provide workshops on topics like mental health, vocational discernment and sustainability. The aim is to combat isolation among young Christian leaders and counteract the narrative that all young people are losing their faith. 'In a lot of ways, these young people are teaching us how to be a seminary for the next generation,' said the Rev. Kenda Creasy Dean, the Mary D. Synnott professor of Youth, Church and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary and one of the architects of Polaris. Built to train pastors, many seminaries like Princeton are increasingly welcoming students looking to discern their calling rather than intending to work at a congregation. Dean said she has observed that pastoral credentials don't have the draw they used to for students, which is mirrored in trends at the seminary. While enrollment in its Master of Divinity program — a prerequisite for many seeking ordination — has declined in recent years (down to 155 students in the 2024-2025 school year, from 245 students in 2020-2021), Princeton's master's programs for leaders interested in theology/sustainability and in justice/public life have grown steadily since being launched in 2023. The seminary has also seen growth in part-time, hybrid and online offerings. And this year, it saw the largest incoming class of degree-pursuing students in the last five years. According to data from the Association of Theological Schools, an umbrella group of over 270 schools, Princeton isn't alone. Though enrollment in Master of Divinity programs continues to decline among ATS member schools, down roughly 14% since 2020, that dip has been offset by boosts in two-year, often customizable Master of Arts programs and non-degree enrollment, leading to an overall 1.8% increase in enrollment at ATS schools since 2020. Still, seminaries are facing significant challenges. As a result, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, an influential Evangelical Free Church school near Chicago, announced last month it will be acquired by a Canadian university and move to British Columbia. Despite financial setbacks, the school has had a transformative impact on the nearby city of Waukegan, Illinois, thanks to a young adult-centered program called Mosaic Ministries. Mosaic Ministries began praying with and building relationships with Waukegan churches in 2010. With the help of the Lilly Endowment, it became a formal collaboration of 12 churches in 2017, with the purpose of developing ministries with young adults. By listening to what young people asked for — space to ask hard questions and do life together, not just host another barbecue, for example — churches adapted. 'As the years went by, our churches grew healthier, they grew more intergenerational, they grew more missional, and this collaboration of churches shifted from individual churches to a network,' said the Rev. Daniel Hartman, co-director of Mosaic Ministries at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In 2022, that network came together to form Refined, a program for young adults from each of the 12 churches. Across 18 months, the young adults received mentoring, attended retreats and became involved in Waukegan-based community projects. Though Adi Camacho grew up attending a Baptist church in Waukegan, she joined Refined after several years away from the church. 'It was my first time getting to meet brothers and sisters who were not from my congregation that could hear my heart and be there for me and love and support me in such a godly way,' Camacho said. 'We were able to break barriers between our churches.' Camacho hosts a podcast about Mosaic Ministries' impact and pitches the program at citywide events like cleanup days, toy drives or prayer services. The city routinely looks to Mosaic to meet local needs, and Mosaic's hub, a revamped former library, is a gathering place designed to welcome young people who might be hesitant to meet at church, said Hartman. Wednesdays A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future. It's not yet clear how Mosaic Ministries will be impacted by the seminary's move. However, Mosaic and similar innovative seminary initiatives take a unique approach to empowering young people in their own contexts, without trying to convince them to enroll as students. For example, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Texas has created programming for both Christian and 'Christ curious' young adults. 'There are all kinds of places where young adults gather at the edges of Christian conversation,' said Melissa Wiginton, vice president for strategic engagement and partnerships at the Austin seminary. 'We know that there is a longing out there for people to be connected to something that's sturdy enough to hold them, but not so rigid that it encages them.' Since 2017, the seminary, also with the help of the Lilly Endowment, has created such spaces via its 787 Initiative, which offers faith and community engagement for young people in Austin. Mercedes Collins, who runs a recreational club, We Outside ATX, for Austin's Black community, provides input for 787's advisory council. She said young people in her network are craving spaces where their voices are heard. 'Community is a spiritual thing, right?' said Collins, who identifies as more spiritual than religious. 'We're not meant to be here alone.' 787 was a precursor to the seminary's Austin Story Project, which launched in January and will offer an in-person storytelling cohort and spiritual pilgrimages for young adults. The first pilgrimage will focus on nonviolence, where participants will visit sites connected with nuclear weapon production in the Pacific Northwest. A survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima will accompany them. 'Everybody's in a massive period of experimentation,' said Dean, of Princeton Theological Seminary. 'Desperation is a spiritual gift, and so it gives you a chance to experiment with things that, you know, 10 years ago were off the table. That's happening everywhere, and we are no different in that.'
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.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Chimps use medicinal plants to treat their wounds
Wild chimpanzees have been observed self-medicating their wounds with plants, providing medical aid to other chimps and even removing others from snares left by human hunters, new research suggests. The behaviors — which are documented in a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Evolution and Ecology on Wednesday — provide new clues about the origin of medical care in humans. The study combines historical data and about eight months of new observations, including many captured on video and in photos. It provides added evidence that our closest living relatives will chew plants and apply makeshift poultices to wounds, clean other animals' wounds by licking them, and use leaves for a hygienic scrub after sex or defecation. Chimps were also seen pressing wounds and dabbing medicinal leaves to wounds. The results, particularly as they provide evidence that chimpanzees who are not kin care for one another, add new fuel to the debate over whether humans are the only species capable of providing prosocial, or altruistic, care to others. 'One of the things humans have clung onto is that we're this very special species, because we are capable of altruism and we're capable of empathy,' said Elodie Freymann, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford and the first author of the study. 'Animals are helping each other out. They're capable of identifying others in need and then addressing those specific needs.' Chimpanzees and bonobos, another primate species, are the closest genetic relatives to humans. The study adds to a growing body of research that suggests the concept of health care could have evolved millions of years ago, before humans were a species. 'It's likely that our shared common ancestor also would have been capable of these care behaviors as well,' Freymann said. A growing body of research suggests other animal species might self-medicate, with varying levels of sophistication. Elephants, for example, have been shown to consume leaves used for medicinal purposes by humans, and some researchers suggest the animals are addressing specific needs, like digestion. The volume of research into animal medication behaviors is increasing and outside researchers said this is important evidence that could open a window into our humanity's past. 'In our ancestors, we have examples of health care in humans since Neanderthals or even before, but what's very interesting is that we still don't understand fully how these kind of exploratory behaviors evolved,' said Alessandra Mascaro, a primatologist and doctoral candidate at Osnabrück University in Germany, who was not involved in the paper. "We are just scratching the surface." In 2022, Mascaro published a study showing that chimpanzees in Gabon applied insects to their wounds, and she hopes more observations will help determine how the animals developed that behavior. Studying chimpanzee medication behaviors is challenging work because the behaviors are relatively rare. In this study, Freymann spent two four-month periods in the Budongo Forest in Uganda, following wild chimpanzees familiar enough with human researchers that they'll ignore their presence. It can be physical and demanding to follow chimps. 'There can be days where you're just sitting at the base of a tree while they eat for eight hours, and there can be days where you're hacking through vines and crossing rivers and stuck in clay pits — your day is completely determined by what the group feels like doing,' said Freymann, who would take notes about what the chimps ate, if they were sick or injured and how the animals interacted. Freymann observed several instances of chimpanzee care behaviors during her field work. She also came across a historic logbook of observations kept at the research field site, which featured instances that didn't fit into previous research studies. She found patterns of medical care that dated back into the 1990s. 'When people pool their results and their observations, you can start seeing these amazing stories kind of come into view," she said. Between her own observations, the logbook and additional data sources, Freymann documented 41 cases of wound care in chimpanzees, including 34 incidents of self-care and seven of care for others, the study says. Four instances of care for others involved animals that were not closely related. 'The findings show that some types of prosocial behavior towards nonkin may be more widespread than previously thought,' said Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist and cognitive biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany, who was not involved in the new research. 'More detailed investigation is needed.' Mascaro, who researched the health behavior of chimps in Gabon, said the new research in Uganda showed that chimps in different geographies exhibited medical care behaviors, which bolsters confidence that the behavior is common across the geography of the species. 'We didn't know much about the chimpanzees on that side of Africa,' Mascaro said. Self-medication has been documented in other primates. Laumer published a study last year showing an orangutan in Indonesia repeatedly chewing leaves and applying the material to a wound on its face to heal a wound received in a fight. The plant the orangutan used to medicate is not usually eaten by the species, but it is known to humans as a pain reliever. This line of research, broadly, suggests that primates are capable of finding and determining the medicinal value of plants. 'Chimpanzees rely on the forest, not just for food, and not just for shelter, but really as a medicine cabinet,' Freymann said, adding that it's important to preserve the forest resources primates depend upon. She added that humans likely learned from these creatures and evolved a sense for medicinal plants in the past. And she suggested that pharmaceutical companies could use these animals' knowledge to identify useful medical resources in the future. 'If we want to hone in on these amazing medicinal resources, watching and learning from the animals is an incredibly effective way to do it if it's done ethically and responsibly,' Freymann said. This article was originally published on
