Afterdocumentingtheplants,weturnedourattentiontoamuchmoredifficultquestion:Wheredidthismedicinalknowledgecomefrom?IknewthatinancientIndia,wholebookswerewrittenabouthowtocareforelephants.But,manyoftheplantswelearnedaboutfromtheKarenwerenotinthosebooks.Wastheknowledgeofhowtousetheseplantscomingfromhumanmedicine,whichpeoplethenappliedto elephants? 

Afterinterviewingthemahoutsfurther,welearnedthatmanyoftheseplantsareusedforpeopleinthesamewaythattheyareusedfortheelephants.Theplantsusedtotreatelephanteyeinfectionsandcataracts,forexample,werethesameremediesusedforeyeinfectionsandcataractsinpeople.Infact,therewasasurprisingoverlap:Fifty‑fivepercentoftheelephantmedicineshadthesameuseforpeople!Itseemedclearthatmuchoftheveterinaryknowledgewascomingfromhuman medicine.

Yet,despitethisclearconnection,thereseemedtobeanothersourceofknowledge—theelephantsthemselves!Severaloftheelephantmedicinalplantsdidn’thaveanyusesinhumanmedicine.Andmanymedicinalplantsweresoughtoutby elephants.

Mahoutsreportedthat84percentoftheseplantswereeatenbyelephantswhentheywerefreetochoosetheirowndietintheforest.So,theelephantswereindependentlyeatingmanyofthesemedicines.Didtheyknowthattheseplantsweremedicinal?Wasitpossiblethattheymightbeeatingsomeoftheseplantsbecausetheyweremedicinal,thesamewaythatwesometimeseatthingsbecauseweknowtheyaregoodforour health?

Toprovescientificallythatelephantseatmedicinalplantsonpurposewouldbechallenging.Itwouldrequirefeedingobservations,healthassessments,andlaboratoryanalysis.But,theKarenmahoutsweren’tinterestedinhavingtheirknowledgescientificallyvalidated.Aftergenerationsofobservingelephantsinthejungle,manyofthembelievedthattheelephantsdideatspecificplantstotreatspecific problems. 

Karenmahoutsreported19plantspeciesthatwereusedbytheelephantsthemselvestotreatconstipation,indigestion,orintestinalparasites.Theyfoundplantstostrengthentheirteethandtoincreasemilkproductionaftergivingbirth.Quiteafewoftheseplantswerethesameonesusedbythemahoutswhentheypreparedmedicineforthe elephants!

Thingswerebecomingclearer.Manyofthemedicinesusedtotreatelephantshadcomefirstfromhumanmedicine.But,someplantswereusedbytheelephantsfirst.Onlylaterdidpeopleobservethisandstarttogatherthem.Othermedicineswereusedinbothhumanmedicineandelephantdiets,soitwashardtotelliftheyoriginatedfromhumanknowledge,elephantknowledge,or both.

Inourhuman-centeredworld,itcanbehardtorememberthatotherspecieshavetheirownknowledge,whichsometimescanbeevengreaterthanourown.Welearnedhowtobuilddamsfrombeavers.Wesawhowtosurvivethecoldfromfur-bearinganimals.Wecopytheshapesofairplanesfrombirds.Awholebranchofdesigncalled“biomimicry”isdevotedtousingtheformsandprocessesofnaturetodesignnewhuman technologies.

IntheforestsofSoutheastAsia,KarenmahoutshavelivedalongsideAsianelephantsforsolongthattheyhaveborrowedfromelephantknowledge.Likesomanyotheranimals,elephantsseemtohaveadetailedknowledgeoftheplantsthey consume.

Thenexttimeyouseeyourdogorcatchewupstrangeplantsintheyard,watchclosely,andaskyourself:“Dotheyknowwhatthey’redoing?”Maybe.Therearemanythingsaboutevenourclosestanimalcompanionsthatwedon’tyetknow.Thereismuchtobe discovered!