Chimps use insects to treat wounds?

[steve_bank]

It was in the morning news. When ill some animals seem to eat specific plants.

Chimpanzees spotted apparently using insects to treat their wounds

Chimps at Loango National Park in Gabon apply small winged insects to their wounds in an apparent form of self-medication, but it is unclear why

www.newscientist.com

A community of chimpanzees in Loango National Park in Gabon put insects onto their open wounds, seemingly as a form of first aid. While there has been evidence of animals using plants to self-medicate, these are the first known instances with insects.


In November 2019, Alessandra Mascaro, who works on the Ozouga Chimpanzee Project at Loango National Park, watched and filmed a female chimpanzee named Suzee nursing the injured foot of her son, Sia. Unexpectedly, she noticed Suzee take something from between her lips and apply it to the open wound. When analysing video footage of the exchange, Mascaro and her colleagues realised that Suzee had placed a winged insect on Sia’s wound.


Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/articl...-insects-to-treat-their-wounds/#ixzz7KJU7VBC5

 

[southernhybrid]

Humans sometimes use maggots to clean their wounds. Maybe the winged insects used by the chimps clean out the wound in a similar way that maggots do, although after reading the link, it may just be that the insects numb or perhaps have properties similar to antibiotic ointments. Maggots need to be in a wound for quite awhile to be able to do their job.

I've heard that sterilized maggots have been used in recent years to clean out the necrotic parts of infected wounds. I could share a story about a former patient of mine who had maggots in his wound when I arrived to change the dressing on his leg ulcer, but I'm not sure anyone wants to read about that.

Chimps are pretty smart so it's not really surprising to me that they sometimes are able to develop simple treatments for medical problems.