According to scientists, wild chimpanzees eat plants with pain-relieving and anti-bacterial properties to heal themselves. They demonstrated their “exploratory abilities” in the forests of Uganda. They observed injured or sick-looking animals to find out whether they were treating themselves with plants or not. The results of the study are being seen as a very important and major discovery.
When an injured animal searched for something special to eat in the forest, the researchers collected samples of that plant and analyzed it. Most of the plants tested were found to have antibacterial properties. The scientists, who published their results in the journal PLOS One, believe that chimpanzees can also help in the discovery of new medicines.
“We can’t test everything in these forests for medicinal properties,” said lead researcher Dr Elodie Freeman, from the University of Oxford. “So why not test the plants we know about, the plants that the chimpanzees are foraging for?” She and her colleagues collected faeces and urine samples to check for disease and infection. They paid particular attention to when an injured or sick chimpanzee was foraging for something they wouldn’t normally eat, such as tree bark or fruit peels.
The chimpanzee’s ability to find medicines is astonishing. (Photo: Instagram/ bbc)
Dr Freeman described how, through a limping chimpanzee, he discovered a fern plant called Christella parasitica, which had powerful anti-inflammatory properties. In total, the researchers collected 17 samples from 13 different plant species and sent them for testing by Dr Fabian Schultz at the Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany. This showed that around 90% of the extracts inhibited bacterial growth, and a third had natural anti-inflammatory properties.
All of this means they can reduce pain and promote healing. All of the injured and sick chimpanzees reported in this study made a full recovery, Dr. Freeman happily reports. “The one who ate the fern was using his hand again within the next few days.”
Tags: Amazing news, Bizarre news, OMG News, Weird news
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 21, 2024, 16:01 IST