5min chapter

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#537: The Hidden Knowledge of Animals — Mark Plotkin on Nature’s Medicine Cabinet

The Tim Ferriss Show

CHAPTER

Fig Trees Aren't the Only Medicine Consumed by Elephants

Fig trees dominate many tropical forests, where their fruit serve as major dietary components for both birds and primates. Chimps use the trees for medicinal purposes as well as food. Fig sap is also consumed medicinally by another large mammal, the elephant. Pregnant women in kena prepare a tea of the bark and leaves of the species to induce either labor or abortion. A sick african crusted porcupine that dug up and consumed the roots of a local plant known as mulangelele. The little creature soon recovered from bouts of diarrhoea and lethargy, often the symptoms of a parasite infection.

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