Elephants forage for and mix their own medicinal plants

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 24 Sept, 17:14 · Archive

Elephants prepare and administer medicinal plant mixtures to themselves and their offspring.

Research by scientists at Hamburg's Bernard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine reveals that African elephants forage for and mix medicinal plants to treat themselves and their families. Mother elephants around Mount Elgon in western Kenya chew specific roots and leaves, then mix the resulting preparation with breast milk to feed their calves. The study documents what appears to be the first known instance of a non-human species creating and administering medicine to others.

How it is being reported

• Elephants use medicinal plants to treat themselves, researchers findAfrican elephants use dozens of different medicinal plants to treat themselves and their families when they are sick, research reveals.BBC News · 24 Sept, 12:42
• Elephants found to forage and mix their own medicinesElephants prepare carefully measured mixtures of medicinal plants and give them to their calves, new research has revealed. Mother elephants living around Mount Elgon in western Kenya were seen chewing specific roots and leaves, then mixing the resulting mixture with their breast milk to feed their young. The study, carried out by scientists at Hamburg's Bernard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, documents what appears to be the first known instance of a non-human species both creating and administering medicine to others of its kind. Whilst self-medication has long been recorded among…GB News · 24 Sept, 10:54
• Elephants forage for and mix their own medicinesA new study reveals for the first time that elephants prepare their own treatments from plants known to have medicinal propertiesThe Telegraph · 24 Sept, 06:00

In this story: African elephants · Mount Elgon · Kenya · Bernard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine · Hamburg

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