Gorillas Are the Latest Primates Seen Self-Medicating

Not too long ago an orangutan in Indonesia was seen self-medicating with a healing plant it uses as a poultice. Now another primate, the African gorilla, has been spotted finding drugs in the jungle.

The researchers went to Moukalaba-Doudou National Park in Gabon to observe western lowland gorillas, a species so awesome its scientific name reads more like a declaration than a designation: Gorilla gorilla gorilla. There they recorded the primates consuming four native plant and tree species with healing properties.

The flora – the fromager tree, giant yellow mulberry, African teak, and fig trees – are both consumed by gorillas and used in traditional medicine. The researchers then consulted with a couple dozen local humans, including traditional healers and herbalists, who confirmed that these plants are indeed used as medicine.

By analyzing bark samples for the chemical composition of each plant, they found antibacterial and antioxidant properties, including one that staved off a particular vicious strain of Escherichia coli that was otherwise resistant to usual medications. In fact the fromager tree showed “remarkable activity” against all of the tested E. coli strains.

“This suggests that gorillas evolved to eat plants that benefit them, and highlights the huge gaps in our knowledge of the Central African rainforests,” anthropologist Joanna Setchell, who worked on the study with Gabonese scientists, tells BBC News. 

We have much to learn from our cousins in the jungle. The new research is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Photo credit: Guerrero De la Luz / Pexels