Deep within an Indonesian rainforest, a team of research scientists recorded something that had never been captured before: a Sumatran orangutan they’d affectionately named Rakus carefully treating a nasty gash on his cheek with a plant proven to have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and antioxidant properties.
"Only a few days following this treatment, the terrible wound began healing and within a couple of days, it had closed completely," says Isabelle Laumer, a cognitive biologist and primatologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany and the lead author of a newly published study describing the event. "[This] is the first observation of a wild animal actually treating his wound precisely with a medical plant."
The observation offers a new perspective on natural healing methods and behaviors and where these inclinations may have originated.
“We often lose sight of the fact that modern medicine is derived from a very ancient system of knowledge that began millions of years ago in a variety of habitats about which our knowledge is only beginning to expand,” says Mary Ann Raghanti, a biological anthropologist and the chair of the anthropology department at Kent State University. “From an evolutionary point of view, this instance provides a window into how our own ancestors may have developed their natural pharmacy.”
The recorded event transpired during the summer of 2022, at the Suaq Balimbing research station within the Gunung Leuser National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia.
This photo of adult flanged male, Rakus, was taken on June 23, 2022, two days before the orangutan began applying the plant mash to his wound.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ARMAS
The rainforest surrounding the research center is home to the highest density of Sumatran orangutans on the planet. Their habitat has been increasingly destroyed by deforestation, however, requiring more and more of these otherwise solitary creatures to live closer and closer together. Estimates show that only some 14,600 Sumatran orangutans still exist, and the species are considered critically endangered by the Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute in Washington DC.
Since 1994, these orangutangs have resided in or frequented the protected forest around the research center. There, researchers carefully follow, monitor, and record the movements and behaviors of the primates in a non-invasive, observational manner.
"The animals are never disturbed, and, over the decades, have gotten used to having our teams nearby, so they've learned to ignore our presence and they live completely as wild beings," Laumer says.
By observing and sharing the extraordinary behaviors of critically endangered great apes, Laumer and her colleagues hope people realize just how special and human-like these creatures really are and inspire efforts to save them from extinction.
It’s a hope shared by other researchers in the fields of primatology, ethnobotany, and biological and evolutionary anthropology.
https://github.com/apps/tee-yod-2023-fullhd-4k
https://github.com/Xem-Phim-Vay-Ham-K-Tr-ng-Ph-t-Viet
https://github.com/Xem-Phim-L-t-M-t-7-M-t-Di-u-c-2024-Viet
https://github.com/2024-SUB-TH-1080P
https://www.artstation.com/watch-teeyod-thai2023/profile
https://www.artstation.com/xem-phim-theroundup-punishment2024/profile
https://www.artstation.com/watch-faceoff7-onewish2024/profile
https://www.artstation.com/watch-kingdomoftheplanetoftheapes2024/profile
https://kbin.social/m/tech/t/997260/du-hnang-thi-hyd-2024-HD-Tee-Yod-tem-reuxng-phaky-thiy-THAI-SUB-4K
https://kbin.social/m/tech/t/1002777/Xem-phim-Vay-Ham-Ke-Trung-Phat-2024-full-HD
https://kbin.social/m/tech/t/1002830/Xem-Phim-FHD-Lat-Mat-7-Mot-Dieu-Uoc-2024-Vietsub
https://kbin.social/m/tech/t/1002867/du-hnang-Kingdom-of-the-Planet-of-the-Apes-2024-xanacakr-haeng-phiphph-wanr-tem-reuxng-HD
https://topmate.io/watch_tee_yod/956927
https://topmate.io/teeyod_fullmovie/957730
https://topmate.io/vay_ham_ke_trung_phat/961540
https://topmate.io/lat_mat_7_mot_ieu_uoc/961586
https://topmate.io/kingdom_the_planet_apes/961631
https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122143736888190068
https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.291047870721548
https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.306604985829571
https://wandering.flarum.cloud/d/59207-google-news
https://hackmd.io/@v0oUIs_RTfq6OtcR8AUPKg/rkKXMKzzC
https://blogfreely.net/dezet/github-com-apps-tee-yod-2023-fullhd-4k
https://www.funaroom.com/group/fun-a-roomgurupu/discussion/e7003d3c-5955-43fe-8f6d-ccde4f84b4e9
https://writeupcafe.com/google-news/
Rakus becomes wounded
Rakus has been living in and around the research center since 2009. One June morning in 2022, the researchers there observed that he had suffered a deep gash on his cheek under his right eye. Because he had wandered outside of the research area, no one witnessed how the injury occurred—though the researchers have two working hypotheses.
One is that Rakus fell from a tree and got hit by a branch on the way down. Because Sumatran orangutans spend about 98 percent of their time living, sleeping, and foraging in trees, Laumer says, and because some orangutangs can reach up to 300 pounds (Rakus is likely closer to 200 pounds), they sometimes grab onto dead or dying branches that can't hold their weight and plummet 30 feet or more until other branches or the ground breaks their fall.
The other possibility is that Rakus was wounded during a fight with another orangutang. Laumer says that fights within this region of the rainforest are rare but can occur when males try to establish dominance. Rakus was between 30 and 32 years when the injury occurred, she explains, and had only recently developed his flanges—the prominent face cheek pads for which orangutangs are known that develop due to an increase in testosterone during sexual maturation.
Laumer says the day before the wound was discovered, Rakus and other orangutangs had been “long calling” from the trees—a behavior that frequently occurs when a male establishes dominance, something that also often indicates “fights may be going on.”
How Rakus treated the wound
Regardless of how the injury occurred, the team observed Rakus's wound continuing to fester "and appear quite ghastly" over the next few days, Laumer says. On the third day, the researchers observed him navigating to some climbing plants called Akar Kuning—botanicals commonly used by humans as treatment for wounds and conditions such as dysentery, diabetes, and malaria.
The team watched Rakus seek out and then eat the plant, which itself was highly unusual behavior. "Our data shows this orangutan population only eats these plants 0.3 percent of the time," Laumer notes.