Context
Scientists studying African elephants in Kenya have found evidence that they deliberately consume specific plants and natural substances when unwell. This behaviour, known as zoopharmacognosy, suggests that medicinal knowledge may be socially transmitted across generations.
Explanation
- Zoopharmacognosy refers to the behaviour in which animals select and use natural substances to prevent or treat illness.
- Animals may consume barks, leaves, resins, clay, charcoal or insects to address parasites, wounds, gastrointestinal problems or infections.
- Similar self-medication has been observed in great apes, chimpanzees, orangutans, dolphins and birds.
- African elephants in Kenya’s Mount Elgon region were found using several plant species and mineral-rich soils.
- Some medicinal plants used by elephants are also known in indigenous human traditional medicine.
- Such knowledge may involve social learning and intergenerational transmission, including learning from mothers.
- The behaviour highlights links between animal cognition, behavioural ecology and ethnobotany.
- Studying it may aid wildlife conservation and bioactive-compound research, while raising concerns about biopiracy and traditional knowledge rights.
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