Chimpanzees use medicinal plants when sick

 

Chimpanzees use medicinal plants when sick 

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bhxq-IFCi4

Humans have been using medicinal plants since prehistoric times. They are still used around the world in traditional medicine. For the first time, scientists have discovered that chimpanzees also seek out the fruits of the forest to heal themselves when sick. Researchers from Oxford University in the UK conducted a study of chimpanzee behaviour at the Budongo Central Forest Reserve in Uganda. The researchers tracked a male chimp with an injured hand looking for the leaves of a fern. The fern had properties that may have reduced the swelling in the ape's hand. Another chimpanzee with a parasitic infection sought out the bark of a cat-thorn tree. This may have helped to alleviate the animal's condition.

The research team said there was a strong correlation between the chimpanzees' ailments and injuries and the healing properties in the flora they consumed. The researchers tested plant extracts that were not a normal part of a chimpanzee's diet. They found that 88 per cent of the extracts contained anti-bacterial properties, while 33 per cent of them had anti-inflammatory qualities. Researcher and anthropologist Dr Elodie Freymann said: "Pharmacological results suggest that Budongo chimpanzees consume several species with potent medicinal properties." She said her team's investigations into the primates' behaviour may pave the way for a greater use of natural remedies in our lives.

Also,did you know that chimpanzees love to dance? They also like to clap along to music, and nod their head,  tap their feet and move in time with the rhythm. A new study shows that chimpanzees could appreciate music. The researchers are from Kyoto University in Japan. They say their study could help us understand how early humans developed an interest in music. Researchers Dr Yuko Hattori and professor Masaki Tomonaga conducted tests on seven chimps. They played the apes six two-minute songs on a piano for six days. The researchers said the chimps had a definite sense of rhythm and it changed their mood. The male chimpanzees seemed to respond to the melodies more than the females.

The researchers wrote that chimpanzees could have passed on a liking for music and dance to early humans millions of years ago. This could have happened via a common ancestor around six million years ago. The researchers said the study suggested that our love of dancing was deep inside the earliest humans. Dr Hattori said: "Chimpanzees dance to some extent in the same way as humans." She added: "In humans, listening to music causes rhythmic movement, suggesting a close connection between the auditory and motor areas in the brain." She believes the research could shed light on the evolution of dancing in humans and why we love melody and rhythm so much.

The race is on to help save the world’s great apes from extinction. Unfortunately, it seems as though the odds are stacked heavily against man’s closest living relatives. A week of talks opened on Monday in Kinshasa, Congo. Governments and conservationists will thrash out a new global agreement aimed at protecting endangered apes across the world. The crux of the meetings is to save these precious primates from what seems to be impending extinction if no measures are taken to ensure their survival. Delegations from 23 nations from Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia are in attendance. These countries are home to the world’s gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans.

Delegates face an uphill battle for any agreements to be effective. Many zoologists predict most of the great apes will be on the brink of extinction within a generation. Populations have dwindled from millions in the 19^th century to a precarious 400,000 and sharply declining today. The apes are threatened by logging, poaching and regional conflicts. Over half of the apes’ natural habitat is in strife-torn regions. The Associated Press quotes an optimistic Ian Redmond, chief consultant for the U.N.’s Great Apes Survival Project, as saying: “There are signs of political commitment and a shared determination to address the problems we are here to discuss.” A similar meeting took place two years ago in Paris.  There are four types of Great Apes – the orang-utans, gorillas, chimpanzees and humans.

1. BACK TO NATURE: Students A strongly believe we need to use natural remedies more and manufactured drugs less; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  
2. AILMENTS: What do you know about these ailments? How can we treat them? Complete this table.

	What I Know	How We Can Treat Them?
Swollen finger
Toothache
Burn
Blisters
Headache
Upset stomach

3.Vocabulary A

    Paragraph 1

1.	prehistoric	a.	Look for something or someone.
2.	seek out	b.	A green plant with many small leaves, often found in darker places in forests.
3.	heal	c.	Make pain or a problem less.
4.	fern	d.	Get better after being hurt or sick.
5.	properties	e.	When a part of your body fills with water and gets bigger because it is hurt or sick.
6.	swelling	f.	Very, very old, from a time before people could write.
7.	alleviate	g.	Special qualities of something.

    Paragraph 2

8.	correlation	h.	A small sickness or health problem.
9.	ailment	i.	Plants that grow in a certain place.
10.	flora	j.	A group of living things that includes monkeys and humans.
11.	extract	k.	A person who studies people and cultures from the past.
12.	anthropologist	l.	To take out something from somewhere.
13.	potent	m.	A connection between two things where one thing affects the other.
14.	primate	n.	Very strong or powerful.

 

Vocabulary B

    Paragraph 1

1.	clap	a.	Understand the full value of something.
2.	nod	b.	Clearly true or real.
3.	appreciate	c.	Hit the palms of your hands together repeatedly, usually to show you like someone doing or saying something.
4.	developed	d.	Move one's head up and down repeatedly.
5.	conducted	e.	Grew or caused to grow and become more mature or advanced.
6.	definite	f.	Organized and carried out; did.
7.	mood	g.	How you feel in your mind.

    Paragraph 2

8.	via	h.	Relating to the sense of hearing.
9.	common	i.	By way of; through.
10.	ancestor	j.	Gave an idea to someone to think about.
11.	suggested	k.	The process by which different kinds of living things developed and changed from earlier forms during the history of the earth.
12.	auditory	l.	Shared by; coming from.
13.	evolution	m.	A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.
14.	rhythm	n.	A family member, usually one more further back than a grandparent, from whom one comes.

4. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1. medicinal
2. traditional
3. heal
4. tracked
5. alleviate
6. correlation
7. consumed
8. properties
9. potent
10. pave the way

1. ate
2. reduce
3. monitored
4. conventional
5. link
6. powerful
7. curative
8. prepare
9. qualities
10. cure

5. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	stacked	verge
b.	thrash out	bottom line
c.	crux	conflict
d.	impending	representatives
e.	delegations	diminished
f.	brink	piled
g.	dwindled	dangerous
h.	precarious	negotiate
i.	strife	will
j.	determination	imminent

5.Role play

Role  A – Garlic You think garlic is the plant that's best for us. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their plants aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why):

Role  B – Spinach You think spinach is the plant that's best for us. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their plants aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why):

Role  C – Dandelion You think dandelion is the plant that's best for us. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their plants aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why):

Role  D – Avocado You think avocado is the plant that's best for us. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their plants aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least useful of these (and why):   OR Aloe Lavender Cactus Ginseng Ginger 6. What things from our modern-day lives could you picture becoming obsolete in the near future? 7. EXTINCTION: What would think if the following animals became extinct? What can we do to stop them from becoming extinct? Rank them in order or which animals you want to save most. Chimpanzees Tigers Red-necked Amazonian frogs Ostriches Cockroaches Ants Elephants Golden Eagles

8.Discussion - Medicinal Plants

1. What do you know about medicinal plants?
2. Which are better – medicinal plants or manufactured drugs?
3. How intelligent are chimpanzees?
4. What plants do you know of with healing properties?
5. What do you do when part of your body is swollen?
6. What do you know about ferns?
7. Would you like to study chimpanzee behaviour?
8. How much do you rely on medicine?

11. What do you know about chimpanzees?
12. Is any of the food we eat medicinal?
13. What can we learn from chimpanzees?
14. How important is the work of anthropologists?
15. What will medicine of the future be like?
16. Do you think nature contains remedies to all our ills?
17. What questions would you like to ask the researchers?