Orangutan treats facial wound with medicinal plant in documented first

Rakus, an adult male orangutan, was seen chewing the stems and leaves of a medicinal plant into a poultice before applying it to his facial wound.

In what scientists are calling a first for any non-human species, a Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia was seen creating and applying a medicinal paste made from local plants to a wound on his face.

According to a newly published study about the observation, scientists witnessed Rakus, an adult male orangutan living in Gunung Leuser National Park, chewing the stems and leaves of a plant called akar kuning into a poultice before applying it to his facial wound.

Akar kuning, an evergreen climbing plant, has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties and is commonly used in traditional medicine to treat conditions like dysentery, diabetes and malaria.

Scientists watched on as Rakus applied the plant juices and chewed akar kuning (also called yellow root) to a wound under his right eye for seven minutes until it was fully covered. Rakus also applied more fulsome, and less chewed, leaves to his injury akin to a leafy makeshift bandage.

After using the medicinal plant’s juice on his face, Rakus’ wound healed completely within a month. Scientists reported no signs of infection and said the wound closed within five days. Only a faint scar remains on Rakus’s face, scientists reported.

Though akar kuning is part of the local orangutan diet, the study says the plant is rarely eaten by the primates. With this knowledge, and by witnessing the length of Rakus’ self-treatment, scientists concluded he was intentionally using the plant as medicine.

Rakus’ cheek wound was first noticed on June 25, 2022, the same day he was witnessed applying the medicinal plant. Scientists said they believed he obtained the wound in a fight with another male orangutan. Rakus also had a wound inside his mouth.

Rakus, who is believed to be about 35 years old, is the first animal ever documented using a plant to treat an injury — though other primates have been observed treating wounds using different methods in the past.