Orangutan heals cut with medicinal plant

Composite image shows a side by side comparison of Rakus, a male orangutan with a facial wound, at Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia, with the wound healed a few days later — "This is to the best of my knowledge the first published study to demonstrate an animal using a plant with known biomedical properties for the treatment of a wound"

(Image credit: AFP Photo / SUAQ Foundation / Getty Images)

What happened

Rakus, a Sumatran orangutan, healed a wound on his face with a medicinal plant also used by humans in Southeast Asia, scientists said Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. Rakus was observed chewing and applying juice from the plant, akar kuning or yellow root, to the wound, then using the masticated leaves like a bandage. A month later the wound had "healed without any signs of infection," said study coauthor Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist with Germany's Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior.

Who said what

Researchers have seen primates use insects and plants to treat aches and fend off parasites, but "this is to the best of my knowledge the first published study to demonstrate an animal using a plant with known biomedical properties for the treatment of a wound," primatologist Michael Huffman, who was not involved in the study, said to The New York Times.

What next?

Laumer said she hopes Rakus' remarkable self-medication sparks greater appreciation and protections for critically endangered Sumatran orangutans.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.