WILD MEDICINE

Ask, Mar 2005 by Braaf, Ellen R

Tip #7-Swallow the Bitter Pill

Many scientists believe wild animals eat poisonous plants to kill internal parasites. Parasites can enter an animal's body through its skin, mouth, or eyes. Once inside, they live in the digestive tract, breathing passages, or even inside living cells. These greedy freeloaders sap their host's energy.

Some infected chimpanzees find relief by stripping the stem of a bitter-leaf plant and chewing its spongy pith. These plants contain a variety of chemicals that kill parasites. Chimpanzees also swallow rough, hairy, folded-up leaves. The leaves aren't digested but pass through a chimp's intestines, snagging free-floating worms along the way. When the chimp poops, the leaves come out almost whole, with the tiny wriggling worms stuck tight.

Tip #8-Starve or Vomit

Have you ever heard your grandma use the expression "starve a fever" when you're sick? Many animals stop eating when they're ill. Bacteria need iron. When a sick animal stops eating, it deprives the disease-causing germs of this essential element.

Probably your grandma never recommended that you eat grass. But perhaps you've seen your dog or cat eat grass, and then vomit. Vomiting helps animals purge disease-causing organisms and poisons from their bodies.

Tip #9-Make Those Germs Sweat

One way animals help themselves when they're sick is to raise their body temperature. High temperatures can kill germs. While warm-blooded animals get germ-fighting fevers, cold-blooded critters like turtles, toads, and lizards seek out logs or rocks heated by the sun. Fish infected with bacteria move to warmer waters. Ants and flies suffering from fungus infections bask on sun-baked plants.

Tip #10-And Don't Live Like Humans!

In the wild, baboons spend 40 percent of their day searching for food. They eat a healthy, high-fiber diet that's low in sugar, salt, and fat. But given the chance, they easily become like human couch potatoes.

As more visitors have come to the Masai Mara National Reserve on the Serengeti Plains in Kenya, waste dumps have sprung up to get rid of garbage from the hotels. It didn't take the baboons long to find out they could sleep until the garbage truck arrived, gorge themselves on hotel leftovers, then chill out the rest of the day. Unfortunately, researchers noticed some troubling changes in the park's baboons after years on this high-fat, high-sugar, high-protein diet. Baboon youngsters matured sooner and weighed more. Blood tests showed an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Animals have many ways to take care of themselves in the wild. But, like humans, they don't always do the healthy thing.