Researchers have spotted chimpanzees capturing insects, licking them, and applying them to other chimps’ wounds. The insects likely serve as a healing salve, the scientists speculate. And though other animals such as elephants and cats have been known to self-medicate, this is the first time nonhuman animals have been reported to apply medicines to others.
The behavior was first captured in 2019 by a volunteer who, while working at the Ozunga Chimpanzee Project in Loango National Park, West Africa, watched a female chimpanzee apply an insect to her son’s injured foot, according to Science Focus. Scientists working at the Ozouga Project documented 22 further instances of chimps applying insects to open wounds over the next 15 months and published their findings today (February 7) in Current Biology.
The researchers don’t know what insects the chimpanzees are using or how they may help heal a wound, reports The New York Times, ...
