Researchers studying chimpanzee behavior have observed the apes crushing insects and applying the bug goo to other chimps' wounds, exhibiting a kind of empathy not seen before. It's possible that the insect juice acts as an anti-inflammatory salve. From The Guardian:
The research, published Monday in the journal Current Biology, marks an important contribution to ongoing scientific debate about the ability of chimpanzees – and of animals in general – to selflessly help others]…]
The project began in 2019, when an adult female chimpanzee named Suzee was observed inspecting a wound on the foot of her adolescent son.
Suzee then suddenly caught an insect out of the air, put it in her mouth, apparently squeezed it, and then applied it to her son's wound.
After extracting the insect from the wound, she applied it two more times[…]
Far from protesting against the treatment, the bruised chimpanzees were happy to be tended to. "It takes lot of trust to put an insect in an open wound," said [University of Osnabruck biologist Simone] Pika. "They seem to understand that if you do this to me with this insect, then my wound gets better. It's amazing."
illustrative image: William J Wegener/Shutterstock.com
