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- Title
Animals Self-Medicate With Plants, Behavior People Have Observed and Emulated for Millennia.
- Authors
MAYOR, ADRIENNE
- Abstract
An article from CounterPunch discusses the phenomenon of animals self-medicating with plants, a behavior that has been observed and emulated by humans for centuries. The article highlights a recent case of a wild orangutan in Sumatra using the juice and paste of a liana vine to treat a facial wound, which healed with minimal scarring. The author, a historian of ancient science, draws parallels between this behavior and accounts from ancient naturalists like Aristotle and Pliny the Elder, who documented animals using plants to treat illness, repel parasites, neutralize poisons, and heal wounds. The article suggests that studying animal self-medication could lead to the discovery of new therapeutic plants and highlights the growing scientific discipline of animal self-medication.
- Subjects
ANIMAL welfare; DOMESTIC animals; MEDICINAL plants; POISONOUS plants; OLIVE leaves; PLANT classification; PLANT identification
- Publication
CounterPunch, 2024, p1
- ISSN
1086-2323
- Publication type
Article