Hi everyone,
Zoopharmacognosy....the study of animals that self medicate. Wild animals have been known to self medicate and ingest plants, leaves, clay and other things in times of illness but which they normally never take.
Here is a site on this
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32966/title/Natural-Born-Doctors/******************
Chimpanzees held captive often succumb to infection by a parasitic worm, which can lead to lethal intestinal blockages or secondary bacterial infections. But chimps in the wild rarely succumb to such infections. More than 30 years ago, Michael Huffman, who studies evolution of social systems at the University of Kyoto, noticed that wild chimps were treating themselves by ingesting foods with special properties that fight intestinal worm infections. Since that time, scientists have identified numerous other species that partake in similar practices, including macaques and sheep. Now, recognition that various insects also self-medicate is enabling scientists to rigorously examine the phenomenon in the laboratory, with hopes of elucidating applications in animal husbandry and even human medicine.
Over the past 30 years, scientists have come to realize that chimps are by no means the only animals that alter their diet and behavior to treat their own maladies. Huffman later documented Japanese macaques participating in similar practices, and other scientists watched capuchin monkeys rub themselves with millipedes, which secrete benzoquinones that may help repel mosquitoes. Even some domestic animals are taking their health into their own hands.
Sheep, for example, are known to regulate their energy and nutritional balances by modifying their food choices. Additionally, they learn to choose food rich in tannins—astringent plant compounds that can kill parasites and relieve infections—when suffering from gut nematode infections.
Fruit flies also self-medicate, but instead of consuming plants, they turn to alcohol. “It’s one of the really strange things about Drosophila melanogaster—how resistant they are to alcohol,” said Todd Schlenke of Emory University. Parasitic wasps, however, are not: alcohol interferes with their development. Schlenke discovered that parasitic wasps prefer to lay their eggs in larvae fed lower levels of alcohol, and when given a choice between food rich or devoid of alcohol, infected Drosophila larvae ate more alcohol-rich food than uninfected larvae.
Because flies don’t learn from their mothers, the behavior must be innate, said Schlenke, who is currently testing the hypothesis that parasitic infection changes fly brain chemistry, prompting alcohol-seeking behaviors.
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For information.
Cheers.
Sriram
