Plants used by chimps as medicine

Filming of chimpanzees in Uganda has shown them using medicinal plants when they're injured. They even use the plants on other group members when necessary.

Scientists from the University of Oxford, together with a local team in the Budongo Forest, carried out the research. They closely watched 51 chimpanzees from two communities. They discovered that the apes used the plants differently. Sometimes, the animals gently placed them on the injured part of their bodies. At other times, the chimps chewed the plants first, before applying them to the injury.

The main author of the study, Dr Elodie Freyman from Oxford University, described how complicated their research was. They had to "act like a detective", adding together various kinds of evidence.

The idea of the chimps using plants as medicine had first arisen in the 1990s. But the Oxford team's goal was to discover if the animals understood which plants to select and also if the chosen plants actually worked as medicine.

The plants were examined at Neubrandenburg University, Germany. It was found that 88 percent were antibacterial, so they limited the growth of bacteria. And 33 percent helped stop swelling too. One example was dead wood from a particular tree which was used by the apes and, interestingly, this plant is also used by people in East Africa as treatment.

Experts believe studying and understanding more about the medicinal plants which apes use could help humans find new medicines. For Dr Freyman, research into chimp behaviour shows "how little we as humans actually know about the natural world".