A chimp was ill.
The poor animal had tapeworms and diarrhea, which are common ailments for chimpanzees in the Ugandan forest. The study team observed the chimp and found what the primate did about it to be fascinating.
The chimp went with two others from the community to a location in the forest with a certain kind of tree. It gathered and chewed some dead wood from the Alstonia boonei. The plant has been utilized in traditional medicine for a long time, and scientific testing revealed that it has strong antibacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities.
The chimp recovered completely.
The chimp’s actions were only one of several over eight months that indicate chimpanzees may be exploiting the forest as a makeshift pharmacy.
Scientists were fascinated to discover that chimpanzees in the wild use plants with antibacterial and pain-relieving qualities to treat themselves.
The researchers hope the chimps may somehow even aid in the hunt for novel medications for human use.
Leading Oxford researcher Dr. Elodie Freymann said that because it is impossible to examine every plant in these woods for medicinal value, why not analyze the plants that the chimpanzees eat?
For the past four years, often for months at a period, Dr. Freymann has been monitoring and closely observing two groups of chimpanzees in the Budongo forest.
In addition to looking for chimps suffering aches and pains, such as an animal that was holding its body strangely or limping, she and her colleagues collected urine and feces samples to check for infections and diseases.
When sick or injured chimpanzees sought out food that they do not often consume, such as tree bark or the skins of certain fruits, they paid close attention.
The scientists gathered a total of 17 samples from 13 distinct plant species and sent them to the German Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences to be examined by Dr. Fabien Schultz.
This showed that nearly 90% of the extracts prevented the growth of germs and that 33% of them have inherent anti-inflammatory qualities.
Dr. Freymann feels it is critical to protect these ‘forest pharmacies’ and the medicinal knowledge that can be obtained from observing other species in the wild.