African elephants putatively self-medicate with medicinal plants

Researchers report first-hand accounts from eight Sabaot community experts (wildlife scouts, a retired ranger, and elders) documenting selective consumption of medicinal plants, soils and clays by African elephants around Mount Elgon, Kenya. Using semi-structured interviews and herbarium voucher specimens, informants identified 35 plant species from 23 families plus four mineral/soil types - 39 resources in total - of which 34 (87%) have traditional human medicinal uses and 25 were explicitly perceived as medicines for elephants. Nineteen resources were supported by detailed anecdotes describing unusual feeding events, specific preparation methods, infrequent targeting, and allocare. The methods combined local ethnomedicinal knowledge with behavioral observation to assess zoopharmacognostic evidence where long-term behavioral data are lacking.

The researchers classified resources into established self-medication modes and placed eight species in Mode 4 - active selection by visibly sick elephants for therapeutic purposes or provisioned to offspring - naming Aloe arborescens, Bersama abyssinica, Coleus barbatus, Dombeya burgessiae, D. rotundifolia, D. torrida subsp. torrida, Ficus natalensis and Kuloa usambarensis. Notable anecdotes include mothers supplying medicinal materials to calves. The findings conclude that elephants engage in targeted, non-random foraging for medicinal resources and possess a broader, more complex medicinal repertoire than previously recognized, especially when their health is compromised.