Chimps Seen Performing First Aid on Themselves and Each Other
Some of our closest living relatives are using insects to perform first aid on themselves—and each other. Chimpanzees with open wounds snag an insect from under leaves or branches and whip the bug into their mouths. The chimps, rather than swallowing, then apply the stunned insect to their injury, delicately moving it around the wound’s surface with their lips or fingertips.
Researchers with the Ozouga Chimpanzee Project in Gabon who track and film these animals began observing this pattern of behavior among a group of roughly 45 chimpanzees living in the rainforests of the country’s Loango National Park three years ago. It is the first evidence of insect application to a wound ever recorded in a nonhuman species, according to a study published Monday in the journal Current Biology.
Between November 2019 and February 2021, the study authors noted 76 cases of male and female Loango chimps treating an open wound with an insect. Injuries tend to occur when chimps fight among each other or attack other groups. In three of those cases, the chimps applied insect poultices not to their own injuries, but to other group members’ wounds—a clear sign of prosocial behavior among these great apes, said Simone Pika, a cognitive biologist from Osnabrück University in Germany and co-author of the new study. Two of those three instances involved unrelated apes.
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Prosocial behaviors are actions intended to help others, according to Dr. Pika. When humans perform these actions, they are driven by empathy for other individuals. The newly documented behavior among these Loango chimps can be classified as another expression of empathy, said Frans de Waal, a primatologist and emeritus professor at Emory University who wasn’t involved in the research. Previous field studies showed that apes console distressed individuals, slow down for injured companions and defend each other against aggression, he said, adding “there can be little doubt about the empathy of apes for each other.” The study authors have yet to identify the type of insect these chimps are using for wound care. But after reviewing footage of the behavior, the researchers said the speed with which the chimps trap the insects suggests the animals’ quarry can fly.
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Sticking the insect in their mouths immobilizes it, Ms. Southern added, and the chimp’s saliva may help create a paste that is easier to spread on the wound. Without identifying the species, it is challenging to confirm what role these insects play in first aid. Many insects have antibiotic and antiviral properties, said Michael Huffman, a Kyoto University primatologist who wasn’t involved in the new study.
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A chimpanzee female applying an insect to a wound on the face of an adult chimpanzee male.
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I remember reading about a female who had a baby. Another female was very jealous, and managed to steal the baby. As the mother shrieked, the second female killed and ate the baby. The mother mourned inconsolably for a long time.
