This orangutan applied a plant to his wound

In Sumatra, an orangutan named Rakus has a facial injury. A few days later, the researchers observe an unusual sequence: it chews leaves, applies their juice to the wound, and then covers it with chewed plant material. The application is aimed at the injured area.

The plant is a liana, Fibraurea tinctoria, some compounds of which have properties studied especially against inflammation. The team described Rakus’ behavior and the course of his injury. The scene caught attention because it associated the preparation of a plant with its direct use on a visible wound, in an animal living in freedom.

This observation alone does not measure the plant’s share in healing. It is also unclear whether Rakus discovered the gesture individually or if he had ever met it. There remains a precise fact, stronger than a general formula on the medical animals: this orangutan treated his own wound with a vegetable material that he had just prepared.