Tag Archives: tropical plant

Animals self-medicate with plants – a behavior that humans have observed and imitated for thousands of years

When a wild orangutan in Sumatra was found to have facial injuries after a fight with another male orangutan, he did something that caught the attention of the scientists who observed him. The animal chewed leaves from the liana vine, a plant not normally eaten by monkeys. The orangutan carefully applied the juice to the… Read More »

Animals treat themselves with plants; behaviors that humans have observed and imitated for thousands of years

When a wild orangutan in Sumatra recently suffered facial injuries after a fight with another male, he did something that caught the attention of scientists observing him. The animal chewed the leaves of an ivy vine, a plant that monkeys do not normally eat. Over the course of several days, the orangutan carefully applied the… Read More »

Animals treat themselves with plants; behaviors that humans have observed and imitated for thousands of years

When a wild orangutan in Sumatra recently suffered facial injuries after a fight with another male, he did something that caught the attention of scientists observing him. The animal chewed the leaves of an ivy vine, a plant that monkeys do not normally eat. Over the course of several days, the orangutan carefully applied the… Read More »