15/05/2025
Zoopharmacognasy next level!!
Meet Rakus, a male Sumatran orangutan 🦧 who recently caught the attention of the scientific community 🌍. He was spotted in Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia 🇮🇩, with a noticeable wound on his right cheek 🩹—likely from a confrontation with another orangutan.
What amazed researchers came afterward: they observed Rakus carefully selecting and using a plant known as akar kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria) 🌿. This climbing vine is traditionally used in local medicine for its potential pain-relieving and antibacterial properties 🧪.
Rakus chewed the plant’s stems and leaves, extracted the juice 💧, and applied it directly to his wound. He then placed the chewed remains on top of the injury, almost like a natural bandage ✨. He repeated this process for several days 📆, and gradually, the wound started to heal without any visible signs of infection ✅.
After about a month 📅, the wound had fully closed. This behavior, documented by a team of primatologists 🧑🔬, is considered one of the first known examples of a wild animal using medicinal plants for self-treatment 💡.
The discovery provides fascinating insights into the intelligence of great apes and how they may instinctively use nature’s resources to care for themselves 🍃. It also opens up exciting possibilities for future studies on animal self-medication 🧠.
📌 Source: (Rainmaker1973)
🦧🌿🧪🌏📖
