Citizen.Coping: Not just a plant. A paste that he MADE using a plant. "A Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia has self-medicated using a paste made from plants to heal a large wound on his cheek. After researchers saw Rakus applying the plant poultice to his face, the wound closed up and healed in a month."

Not just a plant. A paste that he MADE using a plant. "A Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia has self-medicated using a paste made from plants to heal a large wound on his cheek. After researchers saw Rakus applying the plant poultice to his face, the wound closed up and healed in a month."

Wild orangutan seen healing his wound with a plant

Wild orangutan seen healing his wound with a plantwww.bbc.co.uk It is the first time a creature in the wild has been seen using a medicinal plant to treat a wound.

And Rakus has something beyond intelligence. This took planning, consistency and waiting— it took a month for the wound to heal. And the fact that Rakus lovingly smooches the tree, maybe thanking it, at @ 00:50 sec. in the video, shows a respect for nature that a lot of people don't have. 🥹🌿

Wild orangutan actively treats wound with a healing plantyoutu.be We observed a wild male Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) applying chewed leaves from Akar Kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria) — a climbing plant used in traditional medicine to treat conditions such as malaria and has known antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving biological activities of relevance to wound healing — to a wound on his cheek. The findings, which are published in Scientific Reports, represent the first report of wound treatment by a wild animal using a plant with known medicinal properties. Videos show male orangutan Rakus on the day as the wound was first observed, on the day he treated his wound with Fibraurea tinctoria, on the day after as he was feeding on Fibraurea tinctoria, and four and five days after wound treatment. Paper published in Scientific Reports 2024 Title of publication: Active self-treatment of a facial wound with a biologically active plant by a male Sumatran orangutan Authors: Isabelle B. Laumer, Arif Rahman, Tri Rahmaeti, Ulil Azhari, Hermansyah, Sri Suci Utami Atmoko, Caroline Schuppli Link to the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-58988-7

I'm glad they included a photo of Rakus healed and looking happier.

This is all very well, but have Orang-utans done a double-blinded trial with a placebo? Bet they haven't.

They're just aping a medical trial.

Yeah. So much. 🤗

Researchers taught tame orangutans to make stone knives. Later those orangutans taught wild ones. The wild ones were then observed to IMPROVE THE DESIGN on their own. They've also begun using sharpened sticks to spear-fish after seeing humans doing it.

Love this kind of stuff. Memory, long-term planning & thinking, very likely cultural transmission- lots going on here.

Yes, exactly.

Yes, but this story hints at something beyond intelligence. It's planning, consistency and waiting—it took a month for the wound to heal. Most of all, the orangutan is KISSING the TREE @ 00:50 sec. in the video, showing a respect for nature—we are all "nature"— that a lot of people don't have. 🥹🌿

Wild orangutan actively treats wound with a healing plantyoutu.be We observed a wild male Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) applying chewed leaves from Akar Kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria) — a climbing plant used in traditiona...

And how did he learn, who taught him??

maybe from other Orangutans which would be WILD or he came up with it himself which would be JUST AS WILD.

the Call to Poultice is powerful in the Orangutan instinct

Orangutan, heal thyself!

Not just a plant. A paste that he MADE using a plant. "A Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia has self-medicated using a paste made from plants to heal a large wound on his cheek. After researchers saw Rakus applying the plant poultice to his face, the wound closed up and healed in a month."

this got me wondering: how often does this happen in the critter world?! 😍🤯

🥹

Watch the video. He kisses a tree

I've read of other cases over the past couple of decades. I don't remember details now, aside from a leaf that monkeys will eat to clear out an intestinal parasite.

“Orangutans are among the most intelligent animals in the world. We know that orangutans are exceptionally smart, based on multiple factors that have been studied over time.” a-z-animals.com/blog/are-ora...

Are Orangutans Smart? Everything We Know About Their Intelligencea-z-animals.com Orangutans are among the smartest animals on the planet. Discover the many ways we have learned how intelligent these amazings apes can be.

I think this orangutan should be Florida's new Surgeon General. Seems to have a better grasp on medical science.

😂😂😂

Yes! During the pandemic I got really into zoo pharmacology. I learned that elephants and people sometimes use the same kinds of plants to heal themselves. And there is a question of did we learn if from elephants? or did elephants learn it from us? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I also learned that gorillas make salads. Like us, they have culinary skills! www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9rn...

Vegetarian in a salad bowl - a silverback mountain gorilla settles down for a mixed salad in Rwanda.www.youtube.com A sunny day with the Amahoro Group in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, and the silverback leader Ubumwe moves in to select a feeding site, then peels and ea...

I guess I should stop eating orangutan and switch to lab-grown. It’s a little more expensive but I can cut back on how much gold leaf I sprinkle in my mistresses’ champagne cocktails and not have father’s accountants notice.

Glad he's feeling better 🙏

Evolution is still happening, folks. And humans are devolving.

Now this is how you market the new Apes movie 🍿

No such thing as biological devolution. What we’re seeing is a proliferation of sociopathy as an adaptation to our environment - much of that environment being created by humans.

Its evolution baby. Give it a few hundred centuried and he'll be the second mammal to wear pants.

Orangutans are intelligent and beautiful as all hell, they're so intuitive

This is cool. But it's worth noting, there is a lot of known animal self-medication. What was new was seeing this type of wound care. Humans often underestimate other species, and several species are known to medicate in some ways.

Yes, using a plant that is known to be effective is the gamechanger. Chimps use plants for wounds but they not work.

It is. “This is so special because so far, at least to our knowledge, there was no wild animal observed treating his or her wounds with a medically active plant.” Akar Kuning is known for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and pain-relieving properties, and its anti-malarial effect

Scientists spot an orangutan using a plant to treat his own wound in the wildwww.statnews.com In a rare observed case of self-treatment in a wild animal, scientists documented an orangutan applying a medicinal plant to a wound on his face.

*do not work

stay unemployed forest man

So cool! Did he learn this? Was it instinct or intuition?

I wondered the same thing. Someone shared a different article with more details.

Thanks! "Whether Rakus knew that the vine was going to help its wound— perhaps as a learned social behavior— or he figured it out himself when he felt the numbing sensation produced by the leaves is hard to tell. But the leaves he picked, which orangutans rarely eat, do have healing properties."

Scientists spot an orangutan using a plant to treat his own wound in the wildwww.statnews.com In a rare observed case of self-treatment in a wild animal, scientists documented an orangutan applying a medicinal plant to a wound on his face.

Thank you!

This is my doctor

Thank you for sharing. This is really fascinating.

That shows actual reasoning

Well, it’s started. I just hope the apes do a better job with the planet than we did

And not just a paste he made with the plant, but a plant that makes lots of interesting alkaloids. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles....

A Review of Fibraurea tinctoria and Its Component, Berberine, as an Antidiabetic and Antioxidantwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by hyperglycemia caused by resistance to insulin action, inadequate insulin secretion, or excessive glucagon production. Numerous stud...

Oook

What a star! ❤️

that's AMAZING

Ask him to do my broken heart next

@dwcon.org

Rakus means greedy in Indonesian

* has been seen *

Nothing new

It is. “This is so special because so far, at least to our knowledge, there was no wild animal observed treating his or her wounds with a medically active plant.” Akar Kuning is known for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and pain-relieving properties, and its anti-malarial effect

Scientists spot an orangutan using a plant to treat his own wound in the wildwww.statnews.com In a rare observed case of self-treatment in a wild animal, scientists documented an orangutan applying a medicinal plant to a wound on his face.

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