By Leopold Obi
Researchers have found that African elephants in Mt. Elgon in western Kenya appear to select particular plants when they are unwell, while elephant mothers have been observed administering plant material to their sick or vulnerable calves, according to new research published in Scientific Reports.
The findings offer intriguing clues that the elephants may use plants in ways that resemble medicinal treatment, a behaviour scientists describe as putative self-medication. But how and where they learnt the unusual habit is yet to be established.
Fabien Schultz, the lead author of the study, said the findings reveal how closely the elephants’ lives may be intertwined with the plants around them, hence the need for habitat protection.
The researchers documented 35 plant species and four types of soils, minerals or clays that local experts reported elephants consuming. Of the 34 plant species that the experts identified as having traditional medicinal uses to people, 25 were perceived by the experts as having a medicinal function for elephants.
Eight plants showed particularly strong behavioural indications of possible medicinal use, according to the researchers. Local experts linked some of the plants to elephants that appeared sick or vulnerable, while others were associated with mothers administering plant material to their offspring.
Mt. Elgon elephants are not new to unusual behaviours as they are already renowned for entering caves and using their tusks to mine mineral-rich rock.
The observations are particularly significant because they draw on the knowledge of eight local Sabaot experts who have decades of experience observing elephants and the plants in their habitat.
But while the researchers caution the findings do not necessarily prove the plants have a therapeutic effect on elephants, they provide a basis for further study into whether the plants contain compounds with therapeutic properties and whether elephants deliberately seek them out when they are sick.
“In the coming years, together with our partners, we want to investigate whether and how these behaviours are learned or socially transmitted, and which plants and locations may be particularly important to protect.” said Dr. Schultz, a zoopharmacognosist leading the study.
