Biologists from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany and Universitas Nasional, Indonesia observed a large male orangutan self-medicating—using a paste of chewed up plants topically to heal a large wound on his cheek. It’s essentially a wild animal that appears to intentionally make his own medicinal salve.

A peer-reviewed study was published Thursday in Scientific Reports, demonstrating the first time scientists have observed this specific behavior from an orangutan. The biologists first saw the behavior in 2022 when the orangutan was badly wounded. Rakus is an orangutan that lives in Gunung Leuser National Park in Sumatra, and when he was wounded on his cheek with a gaping hole, he sprung into action, behaving in a way scientists have never seen before in a non-human.

Lead researcher Dr. Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist and behavioral biologist confirmed the findings to High Times. “We observed a male Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) who sustained a facial wound,” researchers wrote. “Three days after the injury he selectively ripped off leaves of a liana with the common name Akar Kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria), chewed on them, and then repeatedly applied the resulting juice onto the facial wound. As a last step, he fully covered the wound with the chewed leaves.”  Watch the orangutan here the first time he was observed behaving this way. (Laumer et al., 2024 Scientific Reports)

The researchers saw no indications of infection and the wound closed within five days. After a month, Rakus’s wound was fully healed.

Fibraurea tinctoria is a plant that demonstrates anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, and it can be used locally to treat malaria and diabetes. Humans have been using medicinal salves for thousands of years, but this behavior is rarely seen in wild animals. 

“The treatment of human wounds was most likely first mentioned in a medical manuscript that dates back to 2200 BC, which included the cleaning, plastering, and bandaging of wounds with certain wound care substances,” Dr Caroline Schuppli, a senior author of the paper, told the Natural History Museum. “As African and Asian great apes have also been seen actively treating wounds, it is possible we share a common underlying mechanism for recognising and applying medical substances to wounds. This might have developed in a common ancestor, which may have already showed similar forms of ointment behaviour.” (Laumer et al., 2024 Scientific Reports)

CBS News reports that gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos swallow certain bitter-tasting leaves whole to get rid of stomach parasites. The rough texture of the leaves can scrape out their digestive systems. The apes appear to only eat those types of bitter leaves when they need help with their digestive tracts.

Researchers said we can learn about ourselves based on these findings. “They are our closest relatives and this again points towards the similarities we share with them. We are more similar than we are different,” biologist Dr Isabella Laumer at the Max Planck institute in Germany told BBC News.

Orangutan Intelligence

Orangutans demonstrate remarkable intelligence, and some researchers believe it may surpass the intelligence of chimps. Psychologist Robert Deaner of Grand Valley State University in Michigan, for instance, scoured hundreds of cognition studies and created “The Hierarchy of Primate Intelligence.” According to Deaner’s hierarchy, orangutans are smarter than chimpanzees, and they are the smartest primates after humans, and spider monkeys are the fourth smartest primates after orangutans and chimps, with gorillas being the fifth smartest.

Orangutans can perform several tasks that most apes cannot do. Researchers in Leipzig Zoo in Germany observed “calculated reciprocity”—meaning they “weigh the costs and benefits of gift exchanges.” They have also been observed creating a distraction in order to steal food from one another, essentially showing them pick-pocketing. They’ve also been seen using leaves to amplify calls, holding them to their mouth when they squeak, enabling them to deceive one another to sound like a larger ape. Scientists argue that these behaviors make them one of the most self-aware wild animals that have ever been observed.

Orangutans can learn up to 40 hand signs to communicate in sign language, and can do the same with their feet.

Medicinal Plants Used by Animals

The Natural History Museum reports that the use of medicinal plants by animals—known as zoopharmacognosy—is believed to be used by a variety of different species to treat their illnesses and injuries to some degree. But in most cases, it’s unclear if it’s prompted by instinct rather than learned behavior. 

Blue-headed parrots, for instance, frequently lick clay which helps them absorb the toxins from unripe fruits they’ve eaten. Galápagos finches have been observed rubbing the leaves of the Galápagos guava tree on their feathers. These are rich in chemicals that repel mosquitoes and fly larvae.

Wild animals have been seen eating cannabis, but it’s unclear why they are attracted to it. In the wild, mice and rats eat germinated hemp seeds, while moles, rabbits, foxes, deer, and dogs have been seen eating hemp leaves and stalks. And this doesn’t include insect pests that regularly chow down on cannabis leaves.

Even insects eat different foods that have medicinal properties. Cordyceps and fungal infections are a nightmare (and the inspiration for The Last of Us video game and series) but ants have been observed eating normally unwanted foods that ward off fungal infections. 

The new findings about orangutan behavior demonstrate how little we know about ape intelligence.

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Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted this week to block a bill that would have directed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct research into cannabis as a treatment for chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a procedural vote on Wednesday, the Senate declined to advance the Veterans Affairs Medicinal Cannabis Research Bill (S. 326) with a vote of 57-42, falling short of the 60 votes needed to continue debate on the measure.

The bipartisan legislation was introduced by Montana Democrat Senator Jon Tester earlier this year with co-sponsorship by Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska. In February, the bill was approved by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee with a vote during a closed-door session. 

Under the bill, the VA would be required to conduct a large-scale observational study that evaluates the safety and efficacy of cannabis as a treatment for PTSD and chronic pain. An identical bill (H.R. 1003) sponsored by California Democratic Representative Lou Correa is also pending in the House of Representatives, with Republican Representative Jack Bergman signed on as a co-sponsor.

The clinical study would explore the positive and negative health outcomes of cannabis use by military veterans, including whether using marijuana reduces the use of alcohol or opiates. The study would also investigate other aspects of medicinal cannabis use, including pain intensity, sleep quality, agitation, and overall quality of life. Once the study is complete, the legislation requires the VA to report back to Congress on the results and the feasibility of conducting clinical trials.

Vote Blocks New Research For Veterans’ Health

When he introduced the bill earlier this year, Tester, the chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement that the legislation would give military veterans new choices to manage their health care.

“Our nation’s veterans deserve options when it comes to treating the wounds of war, which is why VA needs to have a better understanding of how medicinal cannabis plays a role in their healing,” he said. “Our bipartisan bill ensures VA is listening to the growing number of veterans who find critical relief from alternative treatments like medicinal cannabis, while working to empower veterans in making safe and informed decisions about their health.”

A total of 41 GOP senators voted to block the bipartisan bill, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer then changing his vote to “no” in order to keep the bill alive under the Senate’s rules. 

In a social media post, Tester wrote that “41 Senate Republicans just chose partisan political games over providing our nation’s veterans their hard-earned benefits and care. 41 Senate Republicans are telling the men and women who have defended our country that their government doesn’t value their sacrifices.”

“Not only are they blocking VA from *researching* medicinal cannabis as an alternative treatment for veterans dealing with chronic pain or PTSD—they’re blocking improvements to veterans homeownership efforts, community-based support, outreach, and more,” he continued. “It’s totally unacceptable.”

In a floor speech before the vote, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, one of the eight Republican senators who voted to advance the cannabis bill, said the measure “is an effort to make certain that veterans are not doing something that is harmful to them and to help them make an informed decision,” according to a report from the Military Times.

But the senators backing the bill on Wednesday were not enough to keep the measure moving forward. GOP Senator John Cornyn of Texas said that the decision to block the cannabis research bill came after “spirited debate” during a Senate Republican policy lunch before the vote.

Cornyn told CNN that there were concerns among GOP senators about the methodology of the clinical trial authorized by the bill because “this retrospective study would be done strictly through volunteers who would come forward and talk about their experience with marijuana and PTSD,” and “it depends on people to self-select and we don’t know how that would skew the results.”

The senator also said that Republicans were not given “assurances” that they would be given the opportunity to offer amendments to the legislation, adding that there were concerns about whether the bill would be taken up by the House of Representatives and the chamber’s GOP leadership.

Political concerns may have also been in play, with critics of advancing the bill suggesting that the potential success of the legislation could be seen as a win for Tester, an incumbent Democratic senator up for re-election in a conservative state.

Cornyn indicated that negotiation on the bill would continue and that the legislation could be revived in the Senate. He explained that Wednesday’s vote was “hitting the pause button” on the measure. Schumer described the vote to stop the bill as “regrettable,” adding that he hopes efforts to resurrect the legislation in the Senate at a later date are successful.

Jeffrey M. Zucker, president of Denver-based cannabis-focused business strategy firm Green Lion Partners and vice chair of the Marijuana Policy Project board of directors, expressed disappointment at the decision to delay action on the Veterans Affairs Medicinal Cannabis Research Bill.

“I’m deeply saddened to hear that the Senate Republicans have blocked a procedural vote to advance this bill. It’s frustrating to see how politics can prevent progress on an issue that could make a huge difference in the lives of veterans and should really have no controversy surrounding it,” Zucker wrote in an email to High Times. “However, I’m still hopeful that lawmakers can come together to pass a bill that allows research into medical cannabis and eventually allows veterans to enjoy the benefits of medical cannabis. Our veterans deserve the best care possible, and medical cannabis could provide much-needed relief to those suffering from chronic pain, PTSD, and other conditions. It’s time for our leaders to put aside their differences and do what’s right for our veterans.”

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