Self-medication with plants: when chimpanzees play doctor

  • Émission
  • 25 June 2024
Légende

An international study of wild chimpanzees in Uganda's Budongo forest has shed light on their fascinating self-medicating behaviors. Observed over an 8-month period, some 50 of the 170 chimpanzees studied, suffering from various infections and inflammations, were seen eating non-nutritive plants with medicinal properties to treat themselves.