AN orangutan was spotted rubbing the juice of a pain-relieving plant into a wound — the first wild animal seen actively treating an injury.
Scientists say the jungle doc’s expertise hints at how early humans discovered medicine.
Previous studies saw apes eating medicinal plants or wiping bleeding wounds with leaves or insects, but never treating a cut directly.
Experts watched Rakus, a nearly 40-year-old wild ape in Indonesia, tend to a deep wound to his cheek.
He rubbed it with chewed leaves from the Akar Kuning plant — used in human herbal medicine to kill bacteria and reduce pain and swelling.
Dr Isabelle Laumer said: “This is the first documented case of active wound treatment with a plant species known to contain biologically-active substances by a wild animal.
“Rakus’s behaviour appeared intentional as he selectively treated his facial wound and no other body parts with the plant juice. It was repeated several times and took a considerable time.
“Rakus rested more than usual, and sleep positively affects wound healing.”
Dr Laumer said Rakus avoided infection, the wound closed in five days and healed in a month.
Experts could not tell whether he learned what to do from other orangutans — or if he had done it before.
Dr Caroline Schluppi, of Germany’s Max Planck Institute, added: “It is possible in humans and apes there exists a common underlying mechanism for the recognition and application of substances with medical properties to wounds.”
The research, from summer 2022, was revealed in journal Scientific Reports.
