If you think squirrels eating the seeds out of your birdfeeder is an annoying problem to wake up to, farmers in Gabon have to deal with elephants eating all their crops. Even worse, they are real a—holes about it.
They often eat the stems and leaves of banana and papaya plants, but leave the fruit trampled and destroyed on the ground. It looks like an act of elephant vandalism, almost an act of cruelty. But to the elephants, it may be a form of healthcare.
A recent study published in Ecological Solutions and Evidence and detailed by bioGraphic suggests that some crop-raiding elephants are seeking medicine, not food.
Elephants Sometimes Raid Farms for Their Bananas, But Only Because Their Stomachs Hurt
Led by conservation scientist Steeve Ngama, the research found that forest elephants suffering from gastrointestinal parasites were significantly more likely to target banana and papaya plants, which are known to contain antiparasitic compounds.
Working with farmers near Gabon’s Monts de Cristal National Park, Ngama tracked elephants after raids and analyzed around 90 fecal samples. The results showed that elephants infected with gut parasites were 16 percent more likely to eat banana leaves and 25 percent more likely to nibble papaya plants, like how a dog with an upset tummy will chew grass.
They couldn’t care less about the fruit, though will sometimes accidentally chew on some in the process. They’re there for the medicinal value of the stems and leaves.
Plenty of animal self-medication by chewing on specific plants. Chimpanzees and even domesticated livestock all do it. Though it isn’t often that the animals are mowing down the agri-crops farmers rely on for their income. In Gabon, crop raids will often infuriate farmers to the point where they call in park officials or poachers to kill the elephants.
Ngama hopes this research, which pinpoints the exact reason elephants are raiding farms in the first place, can offer a possible solution that doesn’t involve slaughtering these gentle giants. Maybe providing other medical resources, like mineral salts, could reduce raids.
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