Forests

Study: Chimps Show Medical Care Skills in Uganda Forest

MAY 14 2025·Updated MAY 15 2025

Story

Above: Chimpanzies Gill (left) and Chippie (right) play with papier mache easter eggs filled with healthy treats during the Easter Egg Hunt for Chimps on April 16, 2025, at Blair Drummond Safari Park in Stirling, U.K. Image credit: Andrew Milligan/Contributor/PA Images via Getty Images

The Facts

Scientists studying chimpanzees in Uganda's Budongo Forest have documented 41 cases of medical care behaviors, including 34 instances of self-care and seven cases of treating others' wounds.
PHYS
NBC
The chimpanzees were observed using multiple treatment techniques, including wound licking, finger pressing, leaf-dabbing, and applying chewed plant materials to injuries, with many of the plants used having known antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory properties.
The Times (UK)
Frontiers
The specific medicinal plants identified include species from the Acalypha family, Alchornea floribunda, and Pseudospondias microcarpa, all of which have documented healing properties in traditional medicine.
BBC News
The Times (UK)
Researchers documented cases where chimps provided care not only to close relatives but also to unrelated community members, which the researchers said suggests their capacity for empathy.
PHYS
NBC
The study combined historical data from the 1990s, research observations, video evidence, and eight months of new direct observations across two chimpanzee communities — Sonso and Waibira — comprising approximately 173 individuals.
BBC News
Frontiers
About 40% of the Sonso community members have experienced snare injuries, highlighting the health challenges these primates face from human activities in their habitat.
Daily Mail
PHYS

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

This study confirms previous research showing that chimpanzees use medicinal plants to heal wounds, building on proving their empathy and mutual care. Like humans, chimps select plants with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, suggesting shared cognitive traits. Their consoling behaviors, akin to human empathy, and ability to pass down medicinal knowledge highlight our close evolutionary bond, challenging views of chimps as merely violent.

BBC News

Science

Narrative B

Studies like this draw attention to the biological connection humans share with other mammals — especially traits like empathy and natural healing — that society has strayed from. Rapid techno-social progress can amplify our weaknesses and erode the communal bonds that once sustained us. Advanced medicine and technology — while undeniably remarkable — can create unstable networks, harming the very beings they aim to help by abandoning our innate, animal-like harmony.

Medium