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Researchers observed a wild Sumatran orangutan named Rakus chew leaves of a plant and apply the juice and chewed material to a facial wound. The wound later healed, but this single observation cannot show that the plant caused the healing or prove Rakus’s intention. The case is notable evidence of possible self-medication—not a tested treatment or advice for human or pet wounds.
What Rakus did
At the Suaq Balimbing research area in Gunung Leuser National Park, South Aceh, Indonesia, researchers noticed a fresh facial wound on Rakus, an adult male Sumatran orangutan. On June 25, 2022, three days after the wound was first noted, he selectively detached leaves of Fibraurea tinctoria, known locally as Akar Kuning. He chewed the leaves, repeatedly applied the juice to the wound, then covered it with chewed leaves. The scientific report describes this as the first systematic documentation, to the authors’ knowledge, of a wild animal actively treating a wound with a plant known to contain bioactive substances.
The Natural History Museum reports that the wound closed within five days and healed completely over the following weeks. That sequence followed the plant application, but timing alone does not establish that the plant produced the result. The museum’s account presents the healing timeline as an observation, not a controlled test.
Why researchers think it may have been self-medication
The interpretation rests on the pattern of behavior: Rakus applied the plant material repeatedly and selectively to the wound rather than using it elsewhere on his body. The authors also note that chemical analyses of Fibraurea tinctoria have reported furanoditerpenoids and protoberberine alkaloids, and that laboratory studies have reported antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity. Those findings make a medicinal function plausible; they do not demonstrate that the plant prevented infection, eased pain, reduced inflammation, or accelerated Rakus’s healing in this case. The study discusses these as possible benefits, not measured treatment outcomes.
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What the observation cannot establish
- Cause: There was no controlled comparison, so the report cannot show whether the wound would have healed in the same way without the plant.
- Intent: Selective, repeated application is consistent with deliberate treatment, but an observer cannot conclusively know Rakus’s intention. First author Isabelle Laumer told the Natural History Museum that the behavior “appeared to be intentional” because he treated the wound on his right flange and no other body parts. Her wording is appropriately cautious.
- Documentation and plant identification: Researchers did not photograph or film the treatment itself. They photographed the plant and compared the images with the research site’s picture-based herbarium; they did not collect a physical specimen because required permits were unavailable. The account is detailed, but these limits matter when assessing documentation and identification. The paper describes the method and its constraints.
- Safety for people or pets: Laboratory findings about plant compounds are not proof that Akar Kuning is safe or effective as a wound treatment for humans or animals. This observation is not a veterinary or medical recommendation.
How this case fits animal self-medication
The report is specifically about topical wound care with a plant. It is not the first evidence of animal self-medication of any kind: great apes have been observed ingesting particular plants, and wild chimpanzees have been seen applying insects to wounds. The authors’ distinction is narrower—the first systematically documented case, to their knowledge, of a wild animal applying a known bioactive plant to treat a wound. The paper sets out that context.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Did Rakus invent the behavior?
Researchers could not determine whether Rakus discovered the technique himself or learned it from another orangutan. His origins were unknown. The authors suggest individual innovation is possible—for example, he might have accidentally touched an injury while feeding on the plant—but that is a proposed explanation, not an observed origin story. Social learning also remains possible. Senior author Caroline Schuppli said it is possible that wound treatment with Akar Kuning “emerged through individual innovation.”
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