Wild orangutans have figured out how to make their arms feel better after hours of swinging from treetop to treetop in Borneo.
Scientists have just discovered the reason why orangutans have been chewing leaves of Dracaena cantleyi, a notoriously bitter kind of plant, only to spit them out.
They aren’t trying to eat the leaves — they’re turning the leaves into medicine which actually acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.
The study, published in Nature and covered by Mongabay, found that orangutans typically chew the plant to create a foamy kind of paste that they then rub on their arms.
While other types of animals have been discovered using natural medicines, this is the first time a great ape has been discovered sourcing anti-inflammatory salves from the environment.
Female orangutans used the medicine more frequently, the study also found. “One possible explanation for this may be the extra weight added by carrying offspring for females when climbing, and may also explain why they concentrate mainly on their arms when fur-rubbing,” it said.
Local people in the region also process the same plant into medicine — as if there were any doubt that human beings are related to these clever, social animals.
