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Chimpanzee
Chimpanzees sought out and ate medicinal plants to treat their injuries, according to a study. While wild chimpanzees are known to consume a variety of plant matter, researchers said it can be hard to figure out if they intentionally seek out medicinal plants to heal their ailments, or "passively" consume plants that happen to be medicinal. The study is published in the journal PLoS ONE. At the Budongo Central Forest Reserve in Uganda, the researchers, including those at the University of Oxford, UK, observed the behaviours and health of 51 wild chimpanzees, belonging to two habituated communities. The researchers observed a male chimpanzee with an injured hand seek out and eat the leaves of a fern, which may have helped to reduce pain and swelling. They also recorded another chimpanzee with a parasitic infection consuming the bark of a cat-thorn tree (Scutia myrtina). The team also tested the plant extracts of tree and herb species in the reserve, which they suspected were being
Chimpanzees may adapt to human developed habitats better than their natural one. However, researchers emphasized that their survival is still threatened.Researchers made their discoveries from hidden cameras during an eight-month study in the African country, according to the study published in the Journal of Plos One.Although chimpanzees living in fragmented habitats, cross roads to move from one area to another and may approach human settlements. However, any further road widening, tarmacking or expansion and urbanisation could significantly affect chimpanzees distribution and abundance.The research found that chimpanzees do not avoid areas frequented by people, possibly due to human tolerance and low levels of hunting in the area, but unfortunately, they did not visit areas humans use at midday when human activity was more prevalent.Around settlements, farmers grow fruits that attract chimpanzees despite the risks of encounter with people. The cameras captured images of chimpanzees