Animals' Use of Medicinal Plants
By Ryan D. Huish, Associate Professor of Ethnobotany, University of Virginia at Wise, with contributions from Nathan Wachacha David Bush, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Humans aren’t the only creatures who use plants for medicine! Many animals, including mammals, birds, and insects, also seek out certain plants and use them to treat sicknesses, to deter pests, and to aid certain bodily processes.
Animals’ use of medicinal plants has been observed around the world by Indigenous peoples, scientists, and others. For example, chimpanzees in Uganda use certain tree species to treat parasitic infections, elephants in Kenya go out of their way to eat the leaves of a particular species of tree to induce labor, and black bears in eastern North America eat skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) to help loosen their fecal plugs and to clear out their digestive systems after hibernation.
Humans have learned to use a variety of medicinal plants by observing wild animals. Women in Kenya learned to induce labor by making medicine from the same tree that elephants use to induce labor. Here in Appalachia, Cherokee people learned which plants are best for treating certain parasites by identifying the wild greens that black bears eat to help them expel tapeworms.
What can you learn from carefully observing animals’ behaviors throughout the seasons?
Some species of cavity-nesting birds, like starlings, incorporate medicinal plants into their nesting material. Aromatic plants such as fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus), harvest-lice agrimony (Agrimonia parviflora), and yarrow (Achillea millefolium) have antibiotic and insecticidal properties. The presence of these and other plants has been shown to reduce the number of blood-sucking mites, fleas, and other parasites in nests, thereby increasing the survival rates of young birds.
White-tailed deer have been observed rubbing against resin from the sweetgum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) to treat wounds. People have also used the antiseptic properties of this tree to help heal cuts and abrasions.