Ages before the dawn of modern medicine, wild animals were harnessing the power of nature’s pharmacy to heal themselves. Animals of all kinds—from ants to apes, bees to bears, and cats to caterpillars—use various forms of natural medicine to treat and prevent ailments. Hear about apes who swallow leaves to dislodge worms, sparrows who use cigarette butts to repel parasites, and bees who incorporate sticky resin into their hives to combat pathogens.
Drawing on interviews with scientists from around the globe as well as his pioneering research on monarch butterflies, biologist Jaap de Roode reveals what researchers are learning about such practices. He argues that we have long underestimated the healing potential of nature and shows how the study of self-medicating animals could affect the practice of human medicine.
De Roode is the author of Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves (Princeton University Press), which is available for purchase.
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