Zoopharmacognosy: Nature’s Healers

Zoopharmacognosy, the study of how animals use plants and other substances to self-medicate, has revealed fascinating insights into the lives of species like the gorillas. These great apes seem to instinctively select plants with healing properties, a behavior mirrored in traditional human practices. The overlap between the plants eaten by gorillas and those used by local healers has sparked curiosity among scientists, who have begun investigating the plants for their therapeutic properties.

The study at hand focused on four key plants: Kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra), the giant yellow mulberry or monkey fruit (Myrianthus arboreus), Ficus subspecies, and Iroko or African teak (Milicia excelsa). Gorillas in the region are known to consume the bark of these trees, which are also used in Gabonese traditional medicine to treat ailments such as stomach issues and even infertility.

Unlocking the Chemical Secrets of the Forest

The research team, intrigued by the potential overlap in healing practices between gorillas and local healers, set out to test the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of these plants. What they found was astonishing: the plant extracts showed high levels of phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, and proanthocyanidins—compounds known for their health benefits.

The tests revealed that Myrianthus arboreus had the highest levels of total phenolics, powerful antioxidants that can neutralize harmful free radicals in the body. Meanwhile, Milicia excelsa bark was rich in flavonoids, compounds often associated with anti-inflammatory and cancer-preventive properties. Tannins, which can help fight infections, were abundant in Myrianthus arboreus, and proanthocyanidins, known for their cardiovascular benefits, were most concentrated in Ceiba pentandra.

Superbug Fighters in the Jungle

In addition to their antioxidant properties, the plants demonstrated remarkable antimicrobial activity. The extracts were tested against multidrug-resistant strains of E. coli, a superbug that presents a significant challenge in global health. The bark extracts of the studied plants exhibited varying degrees of success in inhibiting these bacterial strains, with Ceiba pentandra showing particularly potent results.

This discovery is especially exciting for scientists, as antibiotic resistance continues to pose a global threat. The plants consumed by the gorillas could offer new, naturally occurring solutions to this growing problem. The potential to develop novel antibiotics from these plant compounds could revolutionize how we treat infections in the future.

A Blueprint for Drug Discovery?

The implications of this research stretch beyond mere curiosity. The fact that gorillas have evolved to select plants that offer such robust medicinal properties hints at a possible evolutionary advantage. By mimicking the dietary habits of gorillas, researchers hope to uncover new avenues for drug discovery.

But this is more than just an opportunity to create new pharmaceuticals—it’s a testament to the intricate connections between ecosystems, wildlife, and human health. As we learn more about the self-medicating habits of animals, we also gain insight into the potential healing powers of the natural world, many of which remain untapped.

The Conservation Imperative

The Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, where this study took place, is one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. It’s home to not only western lowland gorillas but also forest elephants, chimpanzees, and a staggering array of plant species, many of which remain unknown to science.

Yet, the future of these forests is under threat. Poaching, deforestation, and disease have already decimated the population of western lowland gorillas, which are critically endangered. Fewer than 150,000 remain in the wild, and the loss of these gorillas could also mean the loss of valuable knowledge about medicinal plants they instinctively use.

Protecting these great apes and their habitats is critical—not only for their survival but also for the potential health benefits their behavior might unlock. The forests of Gabon are a living pharmacy, with countless plant species that could offer solutions to some of humanity’s most pressing health challenges. Without proper conservation efforts, we risk losing this treasure trove of knowledge.

Bridging Traditional Knowledge and Modern Science

One of the most fascinating aspects of this research is the intersection of traditional knowledge and modern science. The plants studied are not only part of the gorillas’ diet but also form the backbone of traditional medicine in Gabon. Local healers have long understood the power of these plants, using them to treat a variety of ailments.

The collaboration between indigenous knowledge keepers and scientists has proven invaluable. By blending time-honored practices with cutting-edge research techniques, the team has opened the door to potential breakthroughs in both medicine and conservation. This synergy highlights the importance of respecting and preserving traditional ecological knowledge as a source of inspiration and guidance for modern science.

Looking Forward

As the study continues, researchers hope to further explore the therapeutic potential of the plants consumed by western lowland gorillas. By delving deeper into their chemical compositions, scientists could unlock even more potent compounds that could be used to fight diseases ranging from infections to chronic conditions like cancer and heart disease.

Moreover, this research serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of life on Earth. Gorillas, humans, and the ecosystems they inhabit are all linked in complex ways. Protecting these forests not only safeguards wildlife but also preserves the delicate balance that allows nature’s remedies to flourish.

The journey from the rainforests of Gabon to the laboratories of modern medicine is just beginning, and the self-medicating gorillas of Moukalaba-Doudou National Park may well hold the key to the next generation of life-saving drugs. In the meantime, efforts to conserve their habitats are more important than ever—not just for the sake of the gorillas but for the future of human health as well.

Source: PLOS ONE
Photo: 2H Media

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On Earth Day, the charity ‘African Conservation Foundation’ is proud to announce the launch of its bold NFT project aimed at raising funds for the protection of Cross River gorillas. These magnificent gorillas are the rarest on the planet and one of the world’s most critically endangered species, with fewer than 300 individuals remaining in the wild. Hunting and the loss of their forest habitat due to human activities is a major threat to their survival.

The African Conservation Foundation is working to address this crisis by creating protected areas and corridors, whilst also training rangers in monitoring and conservation techniques. With the funds raised from the NFT project, the Foundation will be able to continue its critical work and help ensure the survival of the Cross River gorillas for future generations to enjoy. However, the funds will not only be used to help this special species survive, they will also be used by the charity for general conservation purposes, so donations will be helping animals across the world!

The NFT project will feature a series of 8,001 unique, one-of-a-kind digital art pieces inspired by the Cross River gorillas, African Wild Dogs, and the Okapi. Unlike other NFT projects, the majority of the proceeds will go directly to support the African Conservation Foundation’s work. There will only be 300 Cross River Gorillas for sale to reflect the scarce number left in the wild. 

MILLION DOLLAR NFT

One of the Cross River gorilla NFTs will be sold for a million dollars, offering the buyer a once-in-a-lifetime luxury safari experience, which will be documented in a feature film about the journey. However, purchasers won’t have to spend a million to go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Within the Cross River Gorilla collection of 300, there will be 5 randomly assigned NFTs which grant the holder access to a free expedition in Africa (excluding flights) to aid the charity’s work.

“We are thrilled to launch this NFT project on World Wildlife Day and raise awareness for the Cross River gorillas” said Arend de Haas, Executive Director of the African Conservation Foundation. “With the support of the art and NFT community, we hope to raise over $1.2m to preserve the habitats of the incredibly rare Cross River gorillas and secure their future for generations to come.”

NFTs are increasingly being seen as valuable collectibles in the art world, and this project showcases the potential for NFTs to make a significant impact in the world of conservation. Web3 projects have already helped raise funds for conservation initiatives around the world, and this project adds to that momentum, using the power of blockchain technology to help protect endangered species and their habitats.

With only 300 of these magnificent apes left in the world, there are literally more Bored Ape Yacht Club owners than these gorillas – let’s work together to save apes outside the metaverse.

The novel approach to charity fundraising is being delivered in conjunction with web3 start-up ‘We Are Meta’. Henry Eames, MD We Are Meta, “Speaking to the ACF and hearing the urgent need for action we couldn’t help but try this new approach to fundraising.” “We can’t wait to see who will get the Million Dollar Gorilla, but there are thousands of other NFTs starting from just a few dollars. This mission needs support from as many people as possible.”

The NFT project will be available for purchase starting on Earth Day – April 22, and interested parties can learn more and view the available pieces at https://www.300gorillas.com/ today.

ENDS

About The African Conservation Foundation 

The African Conservation Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the protection and conservation of Africa’s wildlife and its habitats. The Foundation works in close collaboration with local communities, government agencies, and other organisations to implement effective and sustainable conservation programs.

For more information about the African Conservation Foundation and its work, visit https://africanconservation.org/.

Contact

Henry Eames, Managing Director of We Are Meta
+44 (0)7515 380002
Henry@wearemeta.business

Or 

Arend De Haas, Director of the African Conservation Foundation
arend@africanconservation.org

The post 300Gorillas launches the ‘million-dollar gorilla’ on Earth Day appeared first on African Conservation Foundation.

Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), a grassroots NGO and non-profit founded in 2003 promotes biodiversity conservation by enabling people to co-exist with wildlife through integrated programs that improve animal health, community health, and livelihoods in and around Africa’s protected areas and wildlife rich habitats.

Through these programs, we have helped to mitigate these impacts. CTPH worked with Uganda Wildlife Authority and other NGOs to improve great ape viewing guidelines and prevent transmission of COVID-19 between people and gorillas. Park staff, Gorilla Guardians herding gorillas from community land to the park and Village Health and Conservation Teams were trained to put on protective face masks, enforce hand hygiene and a 10-meter great ape viewing distance.

To reduce the communities’ need to poach, CTPH found a UK-based distributor, for its Gorilla Conservation Coffee social enterprise enabling coffee farmers to earn revenue in the absence of tourism and provided fast growing seedlings to reduce hunger in vulnerable community members.

Lessons learned show the need to support non-tourism dependent community livelihoods, and more responsible tourism to the great apes, which CTPH is advocating to governments, donors and tour companies through an Africa CSO Biodiversity Alliance policy brief.

Source: Frontiers in Public Health
Photo by: Isabell Heinrich/Scopio

The post Mitigating Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gorilla Conservation: Lessons From Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda appeared first on African Conservation Foundation.

The logging concessions would impact one of Africa’s great biodiversity hotspots. Ebo Forest is the habitat of a possible new subspecies of gorilla, as well as a culturally unique population of chimpanzees: the 700 chimpanzees appear to be the only ones in the world that have mastered both cracking nuts using stones and wooden hammers, as well as fishing for termites using long sticks. In other regions, chimpanzees use only one or the other of these techniques.

Over 40 communities in the region have been living in harmony within and around the forest for generations. The forest has ancestral and spiritual significance as a site for traditional rituals, and contains the gravesites of revered community elders. The local people were not consulted or even informed of the government’s intentions, and their rights to their ancestral land were ignored. If realized, the logging concessions would cost local communities their livelihoods and cultural heritage and make them increasingly vulnerable to new emerging diseases.

In its petition, which is addressed to the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya, Rainforest Rescue calls on the Cameroonian government to:

• revoke the logging concessions
• protect Ebo forest and fulfill the promise to declare it a national park and
• respect the local population’s traditional rights and the principles of free, prior informed consent (FPIC) and involve them in any future land use planning process.

Rainforest Rescue co-chair Marianne Klute: “If realized, the logging concessions would cause immense social injustice and impact regional ecosystems as well as the climate. Logging opens the door for the wholesale destruction of the environment, as poachers, settlers, and land grabbers pour into the newly opened areas. We need the Cameroonian government to realize its responsibility for this unique and irreplaceable natural treasure.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Cameroon’s #EboForest is home to gorillas, tool-wielding Chimpanzees, Forest Elephants, Presuss’ Red colobus, Drills and many other rare and endangered species. It is one half of the Yabassi #KeyBiodiversityArea, making it a site of global importance to the planet’s overall health. It is also the ancestral land of more than 40 communities that surround it. In a letter to the Cameroonian government, scientists from @global_wildlife_conservation, San Diego Zoo Global Conservation Research Institute, @kewgardens and IUCN Primate Specialist Group, asked the government to suspend plans to create 2 long-term logging concessions in Ebo Forest. They asked that the government develop an inclusive land-use plan with the local communities who would be most affected by logging. Let’s #ProtectEboForest.

A post shared by Leonardo DiCaprio (@leonardodicaprio) on May 5, 2020 at 10:53am PDT

UPDATE

Good news!
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has ordered the cancellation of logging concessions in the Ebo Forest. A choice for conservation and an example for the world. The rare ebo gorilla and other endangered species can still call this forest home.
Via Regina Fonjia Leke (Broadcast Journalist at Canal 2 International TV)

To view the petition, please visit: https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/1221/no-to-logging-in-cameroons-ebo-forest

Photo: Francesco Ungaro

The post Help prevent logging and save rare gorillas in Cameroon’s Ebo Forest appeared first on African Conservation Foundation.

The findings suggest that the origins of our own social systems stretch back to the common ancestor of humans and gorillas, rather than arising from the “social brain” of hominins after diverging from other primates, say researchers.

Published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study used over six years of data from two research sites in the Republic of Congo, where scientists documented the social exchanges of hundreds of western lowland gorillas.

“Studying the social lives of gorillas can be tricky,” said lead author Dr Robin Morrison, a biological anthropologist from the University of Cambridge. “Gorillas spend most of their time in dense forest, and it can take years for them to habituate to humans.”

“Where forests open up into swampy clearings, gorillas gather to feed on the aquatic vegetation. Research teams set up monitoring platforms by these clearings and record the lives of gorillas from dawn to dusk over many years.”

Some data came from a project in the early 2000s*, but most of the study’s observational data was collected from the Mbeli Bai clearing**, run by the Wildlife Conservation Society, where scientists have recorded gorilla life stories for over 20 years.

Gorillas live in small family units – a dominant male and several females with offspring – or as solitary male “bachelors”. Morrison, who has worked at Mbeli, used statistical algorithms to reveal patterns of interaction between family groups and individuals in the datasets.

By analysing the frequency and length of “associations”, she found hitherto undetermined social layers. Beyond immediate family, there was a tier of regular interaction – an average of 13 gorillas – that maps closely to “dispersed extended family” in traditional human societies e.g. aunts; grandparents; cousins.

Beyond that, a further tier of association involved an average of 39 gorillas, similar to an “aggregated group” that spends time together without necessarily being closely related. “An analogy to early human populations might be a tribe or small settlement, like a village,” said Morrison.

Where dominant males (“silverbacks”) were half-siblings they were more likely to be in the same “tribe”. But over 80% of the close associations detected were between more distantly related – or even apparently unrelated – silverbacks.

“Females spend time in multiple groups throughout their lives, making it possible for males not closely related to grow up in the same natal group, similar to step-brothers,” said Morrison. “The bonds that form may lead to these associations we see as adults.”

“If we think of these associations in a human-centric way, the time spent in each other’s company might be analogous to an old friendship,” she said.

Occasionally, when lots of young males “disperse” from their families at the same time but are not yet ready to strike out on their own, they form “all-male bachelor groups” for a while. The researchers suggest this could be another bond-forming period.

The team uncovered hints of an even higher social tier of “periodic aggregations”, similar to an annual gathering or festival based around “fruiting events”, although these are too infrequent to detect with certainty from this study’s data.

In fact, Morrison and colleagues argue that sporadic fruiting schedules of the gorillas’ preferred foods may be one reason why they – and consequently maybe we – evolved this “hierarchical social modularity”.

“Western gorillas often move many kilometres a day to feed from a diverse range of plants that rarely and unpredictably produce fruit,” said Morrison. “This food is easier to find if they collaborate when foraging.”

“Gorillas spend a lot of their early life in the family group, helping to train them for foraging. Other long-term social bonds and networks would further aid cooperation and collective memory for tracking down food that’s hard to find.”

A small number of mammal species have a similar social structure to humans. These species also rely on “idiosyncratic” food sources – whether forest elephants hunting irregular fruitings, or the mercurial fish schools sought by dolphins – and all have spatial memory centres in their brain to rival those of humans.

Before now, the species on this short list were evolutionarily distant from humans. Our closest relatives, chimpanzees, live in small territorial groups with fluctuating alliances that are highly aggressive – often violent – with neighbours.

As such, one theory for human society is that it required the evolution of a particularly large and sophisticated “social brain” unique to the hominin lineage.

However, Morrison and colleagues say the addition of gorillas to this list suggests the simplest explanation may be that our social complexity evolved much earlier, and is instead merely absent from the chimpanzee lineage.

“The scaling ratio between each social tier in gorillas matches those observed not just in early human societies, but also baboons, toothed whales and elephants,” added Morrison, from Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology.

“While primate societies vary a lot between species, we can now see an underlying structure in gorillas that was likely present before our species diverged, one that fits surprisingly well as a model for human social evolution.”

“Our findings provide yet more evidence that these endangered animals are deeply intelligent and sophisticated, and that we humans are perhaps not quite as special as we might like to think.”

Source: University of Cambridge

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Humans fall into that category, along with species like mice and lions. There are also a number of South American monkey species where males take on equal or greater childcare burdens than females. But these species are the exceptions, not the rule.

Scientists believe the reason so many male mammals don’t get involved in caring for their young is because they get higher “returns on investment” if their energy is spent seeking out more mating opportunities rather than actively parenting. Simply put, male mammals that spend their time producing more infants rather than taking care of the ones they have will leave behind more offspring. Over time, natural selection favours males who use this strategy, so fathering behaviour rarely gains an evolutionary foothold.

Mountain gorillas, found in the mountains of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, are among the exceptions to the rule.

Though mountain gorilla groups are full of complex social dynamics, just as human families are, in many groups some of the strongest social bonds we observe are between adult males and infants – even when the infants aren’t the males’ own offspring. From the time that young gorillas are old enough to move away from their mothers, they follow males everywhere. Males, in turn, are extremely tolerant. Some regularly hold, play with, groom, and let infants sleep in their nests with them.

In a recent study, my colleagues and I set out to determine why this might be the case, since this behaviour didn’t seem to only benefit their own infants. We found that the gorillas who spent the most time with any young, not just their own, also sired the most infants.

This is a notable finding, since mountain gorillas are not a species in which scientific theory predicts this sort of behaviour, much less a connection to the males’ eventual reproductive success. They have the behavioural and physical characteristics of a species where males are expected to invest their energy in finding mating opportunities, not bonding with infants.

The study

For our study we used 30 years of genetic paternity data to determine which males sired which infant, and compared that to hundreds of hours of data on their behaviour. We recorded what percentage of each male’s time he spent grooming and resting with infants. In total, we included data from 23 males, who collectively sired 109 infants.

Our models show that, across the course of their lives, males who do the most grooming and resting with infants are expected to sire about five times as many infants as the males who do the least. This is true even after controlling for other very important factors, such as how long the male lived and what dominance rank he held.

This is a surprising finding. When we observe paternal care among mammals, the vast majority of the time it is in species that are monogamous – that is, males only mate with a single female, and vice versa. Gorillas are not monogamous, and the males’ very well developed characteristics for fighting (like large muscles and teeth) suggest that their primary strategy is to fight for new mating opportunities, not to care for infants.

Though we cannot be sure exactly why the males who care more for infants fare better than their peers who don’t, our best guess is that female gorillas prefer to mate with the males who are nicest to infants. There are other possibilities that need to be explored, however – for example, maybe the males who have personalities that females like are also more inclined to interact with infants.

Regardless of exactly how the connection between males’ relationships with infants and their reproductive success occurs, if males who have the strongest social bonds with infants are also leaving behind the most infants, then we would expect that over time a larger and larger proportion of male gorillas would engage in this kind of behaviour.

Presumably, something similar could have happened among the now-extinct species that led to modern humans. Our ancestors, like the gorillas, were probably not monogamous. And yet at some point males in these species must have also started interacting with, and caring for, infants.

The kind of care-taking that male gorillas do is extremely rudimentary in comparison to what humans do. Nonetheless, it is notable because of the insights it can provide into how male care-taking in the lineage that led to humans might have overcome the usual evolutionary payoffs that kept it from evolving in most living mammal species.

Stacy Rosenbaum, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Photo credits: Oddernod (Some rights reserved, CC BY-SA 2.0)

The post The more male gorillas look after young, the more young they’re likely to have appeared first on African Conservation Foundation.

They conclude by arguing that conservation initiatives can be a positive part of post conflict peacebuilding. This raises an important set of questions: how do we conserve wildlife effectively in a warzone? And what are the challenges of integrating wildlife conservation with a peacebuilding strategy?

Armed conflict puts wildlife at risk. Animals can be caught in the crossfire in a very direct sense, or they might be poached to feed armies and raise revenue to fund operations. But conflict also has more indirect effects, as parks departments crumble and enforcement efforts wane, leading to more poaching.

All this has meant that conservation has become part of post-conflict reconstruction strategies in several countries across the world, including in Colombia and Cambodia.

NGOs to the rescue?

One solution lies in the creation of public-private partnerships, in which governments (to a varying degree) transfer the management of a protected area “under threat” to an NGO. The new park directors will typically be from outside the country (often white men) and are presented as “neutral” actors merely “enforcing the law” in a volatile landscape. The assumption is that such approaches will lead to well-governed spaces, which will have a positive trickle-down effect on political and economic outcomes in the wider area.

For this reason Virunga, a national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo known for its rare mountain gorillas, is now managed by a British NGO, the Virunga Foundation, in a move part initiated and funded by the European Commission. Something similar has happened with Garamba (also DRC) and Chinko (Central African Republic) national parks which are now run by the NGO African Parks.

The idea is that these separated areas can function as peace sanctuaries, or islands of good governance. Virunga in particular is often hailed as a success story of a besieged park that has recovered since the Congolese state transferred management responsibilities to an NGO.

Conservation is political

Yet such transnational efforts to “save nature” have their problems. Though usually motivated by good intentions, they can become entangled within the complex dynamics of violent conflict. Conservation initiatives, including national parks and the wildlife within them, are not merely innocent victims of war, they are an inherent part of the warscape they are situated in.

As many national parks were created during colonisation, some rebel groups regard occupation of these spaces as a form of resistance, or a way to exercise and demonstrate sovereignty over territory and/or populations. Moreover, park guards and their managers are not politically-neutral agents. In the Central African Republic one park ranger who received paramilitary training funded by the European Union even became military leader of the country’s Séléka rebel movement and was joined by many other foreign-trained park guards.

In Virunga, the “new” management works together with the Congolese army, despite the fact the army has been accused of mass hippo poaching in the past and has facilitated the illegal production of charcoal in the park together with rebel groups. In order to protect the wildlife, local people were removed from the park in military-style operations. Not wanting to give up their livelihoods of fishing, agriculture or charcoal production, these people sought the protection of rebel groups to return into the park and as a result deadly battles between rebels and park guards became even more intense.

We also cannot assume that rebel groups are always hostile towards or “bad” for wildlife. While hippos have fared poorly at the hands of the national army, mountain gorillas have been relatively safe, even from rebel groups. In fact rebel groups in the DRC have offered their own gorilla tours for international visitors.

So, while the Nature study indicates that war is usually bad for wildlife, and that conservation should be part of post-conflict peacebuilding, this does not go far enough. We need to understand that wildlife protection is not a politically-neutral activity but rather something that should be seen in the context of the conflict. If this is not recognised then there is a risk that conservation will exacerbate armed conflicts and cause more harm to animals.

Esther Marijnen, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Sheffield and Rosaleen Duffy, Professor of International Politics, University of Sheffield

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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