When we, as humans, get slightly injured, we typically treat our own wounds.
But something serious, our species seeks out those with medical training to ensure healing.
In the wild animal kingdom, medical care is much different.
Facial wound of adult flanged male Rakus (photo taken two days before applying the plant mesh to the wound). (Photo: © Armas / Suaq Project via Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior)
Rakus lives in Suaq Balimbing, Indonesia.
He is a Sumatran orangutan, acritically endangered specieswith only about 14,613 surviving individuals.
When they noticed Rakus’s wound, they paid attention.
Rakus feeding on Fibraurea tinctoria leaves (photo taken on the day after applying the plant mesh to the wound). (Photo: © Armas / Suaq Project via Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior)
But what happened three days later surprised them.
Rakus picked and chewed a plant called Akar Kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria).
He then applied the mush to his wound, creating a protective layer over the wound.
Orangutans at the site rarely eat the plant.
It is also possible Rakus brought this knowledge from his birthplace.
Luckily for Rakus, his treatment worked and his wound healed without incident.
