Humans often think we are rather unique, but the more we research the behaviours of other animals, the more we see that we are not as unique as we think we are.
Take a recent study, for instance, which found that chimpanzees clean themselves up after pooing by wiping themselves with leaves, just as we would use toilet paper. They also clean themselves after sex, using leaves to wipe their genitals.
The study, conducted in Uganda’s Budongo forest on two communities of Eastern chimpanzees, analysed chimp hygiene and self-care behaviour.
As well as reporting on post-toileting and post-sex hygiene behaviours, the researchers reported on the wide range of chimp wound care strategies. Injuries are common in the life of a chimpanzee, and are mainly acquired from fights or snares set by hunters. The scientists found that injured chimpanzees would often treat their wounds by applying pressure to stop bleeding, licking wounds, dabbing at them with leaves, and rubbing chewed plant material into them.
Some of the plants that chimps use to treat their wounds have medicinal qualities, and are used in our own traditional medicines. Whether the chimpanzees use the plants because of their medicinal qualities is unknown, but lead author, Dr Elodie Freymann, suggests that this is possible.
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“It’s seeming more and more likely that chimpanzees are able to intentionally target medicinal plants to eat when they’re sick … so why should it be any different for the plants they select when wounded?” Dr Freymann tells BBC Wildlife.
Not only did chimpanzees treat their own wounds, but they also treated the wounds of othersby licking fingers and pressing them to another’s wound, applying chewed plants to another’s wound, and wound licking. Such ‘prosocial’ behaviour was also observed when it came to hygiene, with one chimp seen wiping the penis of another after sexual intercourse.
This help with wound care and hygiene occurred in both males and females, and was not limited to specific ages and family relationships — males and females of any age, family or not, would tend to another.
While popular culture often paints chimps in an aggressive light, Dr Freymann says this studyhelps to show that chimps are ready and willing to extend care across multiple contexts. “Just like us, chimpanzees have a complex behavioural range,” she says.
