Elodie Freymann (PhD)

Chimpanzees ‘self-medicate’ with healing plants Wild chimpanzees seek out medicinal plants to eat when they are sick or injured, a study says.

Surreal to have a piece in BBC News about our research!

Chimpanzees ‘self-medicate’ with healing plants bbc.in/3RD3TvD

Thank you as always to the incredible team who worked on this project!

If logging and deforestation continue at current rates, chimpanzees may soon lose access to their forest pharmacy, leaving them vulnerable to previously treatable pathogens.

These results not only have relevance for our understanding of chimpanzee medicinal repertoires, they also have implications for chimpanzee habitat conservation.

Based on these findings, the fact that tree bark is used in traditional medicine across the world, and our recent pharmacological discoveries, we propose that the function of bark in chimpanzee diets should be reconsidered.

Lastly, we found that individuals travel unusually long distances and into high-risk areas to access the bark of certain species.

We also observed several cases of chimpanzees prioritizing bark over high-value food items like meat, suggesting the bark of certain species plays an important role in the diet.

Many of these same species were targeted in very small quantities, making it unlikely they are targeted for nutrition alone.

First, the bark of several tree species are targeted by the chimps during periods of food abundance, rather than periods of scarcity, suggesting they are not fallback resources. A few of these species are targeted most frequently during months when respiratory infections peak.

Our results suggest that the barks of several tree species serve as medicinal resources for the Budongo chimpanzees, based on four lines of evidence:

For years, tree bark has been considered a ‘fallback food’ for chimpanzees—in other words, a food that is eaten opportunistically when there is no better option. In our paper, we call this assumption into question, investigating the role bark plays in wild chimpanzee diets.

The Adaptive Role of Bark in the Diet of Budongo Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) - International Journal of Primatology The ingestion of bark has been observed across the animal kingdom and is well documented in free-ranging chimpanzees. Thus far, the best-supported hypothesis for the adaptive function of this behavior...

🚨New paper out today on bark feeding behaviors in chimpanzees and the possible medicinal value of this behavior ✨ 🐵 🌳 💊
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
More info below:

Thanks to the amazing team who worked on this project, and of course the incredible field staff at the Budongo Conservation Field Station!

📊These findings add compelling evidence that chimpanzees seek out specific plants for their medicinal effects. 💊 The medicinal knowledge gained from observing other species in the wild underscores the urgent need to preserve these forest pharmacies for future generations.

🦠 Excitingly, Dr. Fabien Schultz
and his team found that 88% of the plant extracts inhibited bacterial growth, and 33% had anti-inflammatory properties.

🔬To investigate, we monitored the behavior of two chimpanzee communities over the course of 8 months, and collected 17 plant samples from 13 species of trees and herbs suspected of being used by chimpanzees for self-medication. Many of these were eaten by ill or injured chimps.

Wild chimpanzees eat a variety of plants, some of which have medicinal compounds which may help treat or lessen symptoms of illness. But do they self-medicate intentionally or consume these plants passively as medicinal foods?

Pharmacological and behavioral investigation of putative self-medicative plants in Budongo chimpanzee diets Wild chimpanzees consume a variety of plants to meet their dietary needs and maintain wellbeing. While some plants have obvious value, others are nutritionally poor and/or contain bioactive toxins whi...

NEW PAPER OUT🙉🦠🌱! In our new study in PLOSONE, we combined behavioral observations with pharmacological testing to highlight several plant species as suspect medicinal resources for the wild chimpanzees of the Budongo Forest.

doi.org/10.1371/jour...
More below:

It was an absolute honor getting to present my research alongside so many brilliant scientists at The Explorers Club
annual meeting in NYC. Thanks for having me!

Perspectives Collective Journal

🚨💫It's happening! The Perspectives Collective Journal is a multi-media platform, where field staff can share expertise and insights on the natural world! Check out our website, and keep an eye out for some new material 👀
perspectivescollectivejournal.com

Our new journal, Perspectives, has launched Volume II! Run by the amazing field staff at Budongo Conservation Field Station, Perspectives aims to provide a venue for the voice of local knowledge to be heard 👊
Check it out 🦋
www.perspectivescollectivejournal.com

Applying collocation and APRIORI analyses to chimpanzee diets: Methods for investigating nonrandom food combinations in primate self‐medication Our paper presents two effective methodological tools for investigating nonrandom food combinations in nonhuman primate diets: Multiple distinctive collocation analysis and the APRIORI algorithm. Thi...

🚨New paper🚨 In this study we present two new methods for evaluating non-random food combinations in primate diets🐒🫒 doi.org/10.1002/ajp....

Huge thanks to my many amazing collaborators and the incredible Budongo field staff!