Chimpanzees in Uganda have been observed using drugs (in many ways) to treat open wounds and other injuries.

Oxford scientists worked with a local team at Budongo Forest to film and record the events of animals, and use plants for first aid, occasionally helping each other.

Their research was based on the discovery that chimpanzees sought and took certain plants to take their own medicine last year.

Scientists have also compiled decades of scientific observations to create catalogs of different ways chimpanzees use “forest first aid”.

The research, published in the journal Ecology and Evolution, adds to growing evidence that primates, including chimpanzees, orangutans, use natural medicines in a variety of ways to keep the wild healthy, the researchers say.

"The chimpanzees used the entire behavioral repertoire when they were sick or injured in the wild to treat themselves well and maintain hygiene."

"Some of them include plants that can be found here," she explained. "The chimpanzees rub them on the wound or chew the plants and then apply the chewed material to the open injury."

The researchers studied footage of a very young chimpanzee chewing plant material and applied it to a mother's physical injury.

They also found records of chimpanzees that tend to be wounded with their wounds with other animals associated with them. Dr. Freeman explained that this is particularly exciting, “because it adds evidence of the empathy ability of wild chimpanzees.

Some of the hundreds of written observations studied by Dr. Freman and her colleagues are field books from forest sites in the northwest of the capital Kampala.

Records of anecdotal evidence date back to the 1990s – local field workers, researchers and visitors have written that describe any interesting behaviors they observed.

That story about the wounded and the fallen leaves of chimpanzees helped other chimpanzees to remove from their limbs.

There are some surprising human hygiene habits: One note describes a chimpanzee that uses leaves to wipe itself after defecation.

The researchers have previously identified some of the plants chimpanzees seek and eat when they are injured. Scientists took samples of these plants, tested them, and found that most plants have antibacterial properties.

Chimpanzees are not the only non-human apes with obvious understanding of plant-based drugs. A recent study shows that chewed leaf material is used to heal facial wounds.

Scientists believe that studying the behavior of this wild ape - and learning more about the plants used by chimpanzees when they are sick or injured - can help find new drugs.

"The more we know about chimpanzees' behavior and wisdom, the more I think, the more we understand what we, as humans, actually know about the natural world."

“If I were thrown here in a forest without food and medicine, I doubt I could survive for a long time, especially if I was injured or sick.”

“But chimpanzees thrive here because they know the secrets of how to get into this place and how to find everything they need to survive from their surroundings.”