© 2024 Maine Public

Bangor Studio/Membership Department
63 Texas Ave.
Bangor, ME 04401

Lewiston Studio
1450 Lisbon St.
Lewiston, ME 04240

Portland Studio
323 Marginal Way
Portland, ME 04101

Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Wild orangutan uses a plant to treat a wound under his right eye, scientists say

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Rakus, a wild orangutan in Indonesia, suffered a nasty wound under his eye, so he did something scientists have never seen a wild animal do before. He chewed medicinal leaves and applied them to the wound several times. The wound healed. Where did he learn to do that? Researchers don't know. They've studied orangutans in Indonesia since 1994, and all these years later, they're still learning more about them.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.