For the first time in the world, an orangutan was able to heal itself with the help of vine leaves

A Sumatran orangutan who suffered a facial injury applied a bandage made from a medicinal plant to himself. It is the first observation of such behavior in great apes in the wild, and was reported Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.

Rakus, who is in his 30s, was spotted in June last year with a gruesome cut to his face, exposing flesh under his right eye along his nostril. According to Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist at Germany’s Max Planck Institute and first author of the study, the injury was “probably sustained during a fight with a nearby male.”

The animal is being tracked along with about 130 of its relatives, all in the wild, in Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park.

Liana pulp

Three days after the injury, Rakus began chewing the leaves of a vine locally called Akar Kuning (Fibraurea pigmentosa). But instead of swallowing it, he brought his fingers, coated with the juice of the plant, to his raw wound. Before completely covering it with vine pulp. Five days later the wound closed. After two weeks, a barely noticeable scar remained.

The “medicine” used is not a miracle drug, but is part of the traditional pharmacopoeia of the region, from China to Southeast Asia. According to a cognitive biologist quoted by Max Planck, this vine and others like it “are used as traditional remedies for various ailments such as malaria.” Thanks in particular to its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

First documented case

According to the study, this is the first “documented case of a wound treated by a wild animal plant species containing active biological substances.” If confirmed by other observations, it would complete the growing list of self-medication in animals, especially primates.

In the 1960s, renowned primatologist Jane Goodall first noticed chimpanzees ingesting leaves, the antiparasitic role of which was later discovered. This behavior has been observed since in bonobos and gorillas, where the animal selected the plants it consumed, the knowledge of which was passed on by the females.

More recently, researchers have observed Bornean orangutans, also in the wild, chewing the leaves of a medicinal plant and then rubbing it only on their limbs. Coincidence? Dracaenaea cantleya is commonly used by indigenous people to treat muscle and joint pain…

“Individual Innovation”

The study suggests that Rakus’ behavior, like that of his Borneo brethren, was entirely intentional. According to Isabel Laumer, with repeated and careful treatment of a very specific area, “which took a significant amount of time.”

Study co-author Dr. Caroline Schuppli does not rule out “individual innovation” of random origin.

Rakus may have accidentally applied the plant’s sap to his wound immediately after putting his fingers in his mouth. Because the plant has an analgesic effect, the monkeys “may experience immediate relief, causing them to repeat the operation several times,” according to Max Planck, head of the Cognitive Development and Evolution Group.

This behavior has not yet been observed locally; the researcher does not exclude that it is present in the region of origin of rakus, young male orangutans who leave their native region after puberty.

The fact that primates, like humans, can actively treat injuries in this way suggests that “our last common ancestor was already using similar forms of treatment using ointments,” according to Dr. Schuppli.