African elephants use dozens of different medicinal plants to treat illness in themselves and members of their families, according to new research.
The finding indicates that elephants’ use of plants extends beyond feeding. When an elephant is unwell, it may use medicinal plants as part of an apparent effort to treat itself, while family members may also use plants to help sick relatives.
The research identifies this behaviour across a range of different medicinal plants, although the supplied findings do not specify the plants involved, the illnesses treated or how the elephants select them.
The discovery provides evidence of elephants using natural resources to respond to sickness within their family groups. Further details about the research and the way the behaviour was observed were not included in the available material.
