Researchers have observed a surprising similarity between orangutans and humans—an orangutan in Sumatra was observed using a medicinal plant to heal a wound. The research was published last month in Scientific Reports.
It all started in 2022 when Rakus, a Sumatran orangutan believed to be in his early 30s, was spotted with a deep red wound on his cheek and another wound on his mouth. Scientists believe Rakus was injured during a confrontation with another male orangutan in Gunung Leuser National Park.
Three days later, scientists saw Rakus eating and chewing on leaves that local people use to treat diabetes, dysentery and malaria. Orangutans in the area do not normally eat this plant. Rakus then chewed the leaves without swallowing and used his fingers to spread the juice on his facial wound before applying a poultice of leaf-mash to the spot. Rakus ate the plant the following day as well, and his wounds were fully healed after a little more than a week.
Dr. Caroline Schuppli, a scientist who directs the orangutan research project in the reserve and co-authored the new paper, said there are “two possible scenarios: either he figured it out himself or he learned it from another orangutan.” Orangutans in this particular research area “learn a lot via observational social learning, so they observe other orangutans and then pick up the skills of these individuals.”
There are other species that are known to engage in self-medication, but Schuppli said this is the first case of wound treatment by a wild animal with a plant species that has known medical properties. The plant Rakus used has documented anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.
“What we can say for sure is that this behavior reaches back a very long time from an evolutionary perspective. Because orangutans show it and humans show it, it is likely that our last common ancestor also showed this behavior,” said Schuppli. “We don’t know to what extent he understood his behavior, that remains the big question.”
Could Tiny Satellites Help Fight Wildfires in AZ?
FLAGSTAFF, AZ—Wildfires have become a major problem, especially in Western states like Arizona. As of press time, dozens of these fires are burning in our state, and our hot, dry weather and long-term drought make matters worse.
But an innovative Flagstaff team calling itself Snuffed wants to locate fires as they start in the West, and the team is in the hunt for an $11 million prize!
Wildfires often start with someone’s careless spark or a passing thunderstorm. These fires can quickly grow to monstrous sizes and risk lives and property, scorch important habitat and cost mind-boggling amounts of money to fight. Every year, wildfires cost around $500 billion in damages and losses in the West. In fact, wildfires have burned more than 70 million acres in the United States over the last decade!
Snuffed is a team of about 25 people—some are fire managers, some are engineers, while others are professors or students at Northern Arizona University. Their big idea is to put an array of 90 small, heat-detecting satellites (also known as CubeSats) in a low-earth orbit that would cover the Western States with a CubeSat passing over an area every minute. The onboard cameras would report anything larger than a campfire (1 square meter or larger) so that managers could immediately decide to try to contain the wildfire or let it burn.
In February, Snuffed handed in its proposal to the XPRIZE Space-based Detection and Intelligence competition. The non-profit puts up big prize money to encourage teams or companies to come up with breakthroughs that make for a more abundant and equitable future for all. On April 17, Snuffed was the only Arizona-based team to advance to the final 20. Each advancing team earns $37,500 and has a year to prepare for the next part of the competition for an $11 million prize! Snuffed wants to put one of its CubeSats in orbit. NAU students already had designed it for a NASA project.
