<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Researchers monitoring chimpanzee communities in the Budongo Forest, Uganda, noticed chimps were helping each other with wound care and hygiene - behaviours that could shed light on how humanity's idea of healthcare evolved.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Some of the chimpanzees even used fresh, chewed leaves from plants known for their traditional medicinal uses to treat their own and their companions' wounds.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Researchers said they helped both individuals they were and weren't genetically related to, despite the potential risk from being exposed to pathogens.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/man-who-allegedly-raided-outback-pub-has-a-beer-with-owner-toobeah-queensland/153d8b00-7c6b-40da-9ed2-9806f042ad1e" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Man who allegedly raided outback pub has a beer with owner</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Although chimpanzees elsewhere have been observed helping other community members with medical problems, scientists say the persistence of this behaviour in Budongo could suggest that medical care among chimpanzees is much more widespread than realised.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The scientists studied two communities of chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest – Sonso and Waibira.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Like all chimpanzees, members of these communities are vulnerable to injuries, whether caused by fights, accidents, or snares set by humans. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/chimpanzees-observed-performing-first-aid-in-the-wild/7a4ea597-391c-4504-9d0b-cc539394ad6a" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>About 40 per cent of all individuals in Sonso have been seen with snare injuries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/russia-ukraine-war--volodymyr-zelensky-vladimir-putin-due-to-meet-but-who-will-show-up/a5631c2b-f960-4314-840f-124119cc95e2" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Russia and Ukraine are due to meet - but who'll show up?</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During their direct observational periods, the scientists recorded 12 injuries in Sonso, all of which were likely caused by within-group conflicts.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Waibira, five chimpanzees were injured – one female by a snare, and four males in fights. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The researchers also identified more cases of care in Sonso than in Waibira.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This likely stems from several factors, including possible differences in social hierarchy stability or greater observation opportunities in the more thoroughly habituated Sonso community," article author Dr Elodie Freymann of the University of Oxford said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The researchers documented 41 cases of care overall: seven cases of care for others and 34 cases of self-care.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/new-zealand-news-maori-lawmakers-who-performed-a-protest-haka-receive-temporary-bans-from-parliament/2b0334dc-f0af-43d0-8ee1-e2f365f83133" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Māori lawmakers who performed a protest haka receive temporary parliament ban</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>These cases often included several different care behaviours, which might be treating different aspects of a wound, or might reflect a chimpanzee's personal preferences.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Chimpanzee wound care encompasses several techniques: direct wound licking, which removes debris and potentially applies antimicrobial compounds in saliva; finger licking followed by wound pressing; leaf-dabbing; and chewing plant materials and applying them directly to wounds," Freymann said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"All chimpanzees mentioned in our tables showed recovery from wounds, though of course we don't know what the outcome would have been had they not done anything about their injuries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We also documented hygiene behaviors, including the cleaning of genitals with leaves after mating and wiping the anus with leaves after defecation – practices that may help prevent infections."</span></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2022/11/03/10/54/new-animal-species-discovered-in-pictures"><img alt="A northern green anaconda." sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/kIeQ2QyCfCHlNMwxFqQ00IzqysA=/0x92:921x610/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F9dc328c8-89e0-4f8b-9894-7a7c3475d2ff" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/kIeQ2QyCfCHlNMwxFqQ00IzqysA=/0x92:921x610/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F9dc328c8-89e0-4f8b-9894-7a7c3475d2ff 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/CAG_XaQ97wWOz6GTZm1iIfwfrSc=/0x92:921x610/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F9dc328c8-89e0-4f8b-9894-7a7c3475d2ff 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">'Incredible' hidden giant anaconda species found in remote Amazon</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2022/11/03/10/54/new-animal-species-discovered-in-pictures">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The scientists call for more research into the social and ecological contexts in which care takes place, and which individuals give and receive care.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One possibility is that the high risk of injury and death which Budongo chimpanzees all face from snares could increase the likelihood that these chimpanzees care for each other's wounds, but the researchers said more data was needed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The research article appeared in </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2025.1540922" rel="" target="_blank" title="Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution"><em><span>Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</span></em></a><em><span>.</span></em><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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