PREVIEW

An incredible study published has found that orangutans are the first animal to be observed treating its own wounds. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany and Universitas Nasional in Indonesia observed the behaviour in a wild male Sumatran orangutan. The study, led by Caroline Schuppli and Isabelle Laumer, was made in the protected rainforest of Suaq Balimbing in Indonesia. During routine observations, researchers witnessed a male orangutan named Rakus actively tending to a facial wound. He selectively plucked leaves from a liana known as Akar Kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria), chewed them and applied the resulting juice precisely onto the wound for several minutes before covering it entirely with the chewed leaves. Five days after applying the plant, renowned for its medicinal properties in traditional Southeast Asian medicine, the wound has healed. Their observations offer a rare glimpse into the sophisticated cognitive abilities of our closest relatives and hints at shared evolutionary mechanisms underlying wound management across species.

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