Wounded wild orangutan seen using plant as medicine | BBC News

A Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia has self-medicated using a paste made from plants to heal a large wound on his cheek, said scientists.

It is the first time a creature in the wild has been recorded treating an injury with a medicinal plant.

After researchers saw Rakus applying the plant poultice to his face, the wound closed up and healed in a month.

The behaviour could come from a common ancestor shared by humans and great apes, scientists have said.

The research was published by Dr. Isabelle Laumer, biologist at Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz in the journal Scientific Reports.

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