How animals heal themselves ― and get high | All media content | DW | 08.02.2022

Visit the new DW website

Take a look at the beta version of dw.com. We're not done yet! Your opinion can help us make it better.

Go to the new dw.com

We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration.

More info OK
  1. Inhalt
  2. Navigation
  3. Weitere Inhalte
  4. Metanavigation
  5. Suche
  6. Choose from 30 Languages

Science

How animals heal themselves ― and get high

Whether it's using insects to heal wounds or getting high on puffer fish poison, animals know many of nature's secrets to feeling better — and we humans have picked up a few of them.

  • Chimpanzee

    Magic of zoopharmacognosy

    Being sick is a drag. Animals think so, too. Many different species use remedies found in nature to take care of their wounds or get rid of parasites (or, in some cases, to get high). The process of animals healing themselves is called zoopharmacognosy. Recently, researchers observed how chimpanzees in Gabon treat their wounds.

  • Two chimpanzees in Loango National Park

    Healing power of insects

    Several chimpanzees in Loango National Park, the researchers noted, caught insects in the air, squeezed them between their lips and then applied the insect to open flesh wounds. What stood out — they didn't just treat their own wounds, but also those of other chimpanzees, as seen here. This suggests that the primates are capable of pro-social behaviors that benefit others.

  • American black bear

    Learning from bears

    The American black bear knows about the healing powers of the osha root. Biologist Shawn Sigstedt, who observed the animals in northern New Mexico, found that they use the root to treat their arthritis pain. He says the region's Indigenous people first learned about the root's healing powers from the bears after observing them use the plant hundreds of years ago.

  • German shepherd with his tongue hanging out

    How dogs use natural laxatives

    If you own a dog, you've seen self-medication in action. Dogs eat grass when they have an upset stomach. They'll usually vomit it back up or excrete it undigested shortly after ― for them, the grass is a way to get rid of pathogens or parasites.

  • A singing robin on a branch

    A nice bird bath in formic acid

    Researchers are aware of more than 200 bird species who like to sit in anthills and make bathing-like movements with their wings to attract ants. Through this process of "anting," the birds cover themselves with formic acid, which rids their feathers of microorganisms like fungi and bacteria.

  • A lemur in Madagaskar

    Chewing bark for prenatal health

    Pregnant lemurs in Madagascar nibble on bark and leaves from fig and tamarind trees, which contain components that help with the lemurs' milk production, kill parasites and increase the chances of the animal giving birth successfully.

  • Three baby elephants with a grown up elephant

    Naturally inducing birth

    An elephant is pregnant for 22 months ― longer than any other animal. No wonder they're ready to get the baby out by the end of that! In Kenya, heavily pregnant elephants were seen deviating from their usual routes to chomp on trees from the boraginaceae family, and then giving birth shortly after. Kenyan women also use the plant to induce birth.

  • A reindeer herd

    Getting high on mushrooms

    Along with self-healing, animals also turn to Mother Nature for intoxication. Reindeer in Finland and Siberia get high by eating Amanita muscaria, also known as fly amanita. Shamans of the Sami people used the hallucinogenic mushroom when herding the reindeer, allowing them to reach a prophetic trance in which they said they could communicate with the animals.

  • A dolphin underwater

    Trance by puffer fish

    While filming a BBC documentary, researchers observed dolphins "playing" with a puffer fish, nudging it back and forth between them for up to half an hour. The puffer fish was spared, unlike the fish caught as prey, which the dolphins tore into quickly. The puffer fish, under distress, released a toxin that put the dolphins into a trance that saw them drifting just under the water's surface.


  • Chimpanzee

    Magic of zoopharmacognosy

    Being sick is a drag. Animals think so, too. Many different species use remedies found in nature to take care of their wounds or get rid of parasites (or, in some cases, to get high). The process of animals healing themselves is called zoopharmacognosy. Recently, researchers observed how chimpanzees in Gabon treat their wounds.

  • Two chimpanzees in Loango National Park

    Healing power of insects

    Several chimpanzees in Loango National Park, the researchers noted, caught insects in the air, squeezed them between their lips and then applied the insect to open flesh wounds. What stood out — they didn't just treat their own wounds, but also those of other chimpanzees, as seen here. This suggests that the primates are capable of pro-social behaviors that benefit others.

  • American black bear

    Learning from bears

    The American black bear knows about the healing powers of the osha root. Biologist Shawn Sigstedt, who observed the animals in northern New Mexico, found that they use the root to treat their arthritis pain. He says the region's Indigenous people first learned about the root's healing powers from the bears after observing them use the plant hundreds of years ago.

  • German shepherd with his tongue hanging out

    How dogs use natural laxatives

    If you own a dog, you've seen self-medication in action. Dogs eat grass when they have an upset stomach. They'll usually vomit it back up or excrete it undigested shortly after ― for them, the grass is a way to get rid of pathogens or parasites.

  • A singing robin on a branch

    A nice bird bath in formic acid

    Researchers are aware of more than 200 bird species who like to sit in anthills and make bathing-like movements with their wings to attract ants. Through this process of "anting," the birds cover themselves with formic acid, which rids their feathers of microorganisms like fungi and bacteria.

  • A lemur in Madagaskar

    Chewing bark for prenatal health

    Pregnant lemurs in Madagascar nibble on bark and leaves from fig and tamarind trees, which contain components that help with the lemurs' milk production, kill parasites and increase the chances of the animal giving birth successfully.

  • Three baby elephants with a grown up elephant

    Naturally inducing birth

    An elephant is pregnant for 22 months ― longer than any other animal. No wonder they're ready to get the baby out by the end of that! In Kenya, heavily pregnant elephants were seen deviating from their usual routes to chomp on trees from the boraginaceae family, and then giving birth shortly after. Kenyan women also use the plant to induce birth.

  • A reindeer herd

    Getting high on mushrooms

    Along with self-healing, animals also turn to Mother Nature for intoxication. Reindeer in Finland and Siberia get high by eating Amanita muscaria, also known as fly amanita. Shamans of the Sami people used the hallucinogenic mushroom when herding the reindeer, allowing them to reach a prophetic trance in which they said they could communicate with the animals.

  • A dolphin underwater

    Trance by puffer fish

    While filming a BBC documentary, researchers observed dolphins "playing" with a puffer fish, nudging it back and forth between them for up to half an hour. The puffer fish was spared, unlike the fish caught as prey, which the dolphins tore into quickly. The puffer fish, under distress, released a toxin that put the dolphins into a trance that saw them drifting just under the water's surface.


More in the Media Center

Südafrika I Blick über das Meer der Baracken des Armenviertels

World in Progress: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome affects millions of kids in South Africa 06.01.2022

DW Close Up Program Guide Sendungslogo

Fighting climate change in court 19.04.2022

DW Reporter Sendungslogo

Energy Transition? The U.S. and Oil 09.04.2022

DW Arts.21 (Sendungslogo Kultur.21 englisch)

Arts.21 - The Cultural Magazine 05.02.2022

Read also

sitzen angst mann in der ecke eines raumes mit menschen schatten auf wand || Modellfreigabe vorhanden

Schizophrenia: Gene discovery indicates risk and cause 06.04.2022

Researchers have discovered gene mutations that indicate a person's risk of developing schizophrenia and its causes. This may help improve drug treatments.

Dieses von Pfizer via AP zur Verfügung gestellte Bild zeigt die Schachteln für die Pille gegen Covid-19. Der Arzneimittelhersteller Pfizer sagte am Dienstag, den 16. November 2021, dass er seine experimentelle Pille mit dem Namen Paxlovid zur Zulassung in den USA einreicht und damit die Voraussetzungen für eine wahrscheinliche Markteinführung in den kommenden Wochen schafft. +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++

Germany buys 1 million doses of anti-COVID pill Paxlovid 28.12.2021

Pfizer's anti-COVID treatment has already received emergency approval in the US. Now, Germany is hoping the drug will reduce the burden on intensive care units.

10.01.2022 SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 10: A paramedic unloads a patient from an ambulance at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on January 10, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. NSW has recorded 18 deaths in the last 24 hours from COVID-19, including a child under five. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Coronavirus digest: Deaths in Australia reach record high 18.01.2022

Australia has reported its highest number of daily COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, China has imposed new COVID rules on parcels from abroad. DW has the latest.

A nurse enters a monoclonal antibody site, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021, at C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines. Numerous sites are open around the state offering monoclonal antibody treatment sold by Regeneron to people who have tested positive for COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Coronavirus digest: WHO approves Regeneron drug cocktail for treatment 24.09.2021

The WHO approved a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies that imitate natural antibodies. The treatment first gained international attention when it was used to treat then-US President Donald Trump. Follow DW for the latest.