MycolleaguesandIdiscussour work.
AskingMoreQuestions
Afterdocumentingtheplants,Iwondered:Wheredidthisknowledgeofmedicinecomefrom?InancientIndia,wholebookswerewrittenaboutcaringforelephants.But,manyoftheplantsthatwelearnedaboutwerenotinthosebooks.Wastheknowledgeofhowtousetheseplantscomingfromhuman medicine?
Welearnedthatmanyoftheseplantsareusedforpeopleinthesamewaythatthey areusedfortheelephants.Theplantsusedtotreatelephanteyeinfections,forexample,werethesameremediesusedforeyeinfectionsinpeople.Infact,55percentoftheelephantmedicineshadthesameusefor people!
Therewasanotherknowledgesource,too.Theelephantsthemselves!Severaloftheelephantmedicineplantsdidn’thaveanyusesinhumanmedicine.Andmanyhealingplantsweresoughtoutby elephants.
Eighty‑fourpercentoftheseplantswereeatenbyelephantswhentheywerefreetochooseintheforest.So,theelephantswereindependentlyeatingmanyofthesemedicines.Didtheyknowthattheseplantswere medicinal?
Weidentifyandlabeleachspecimen,suchasthisplantusedtotreatelephants'broken bones.
anelephanteatingplantsinthe wild
GoingFurther
Toprovescientificallythatelephantseatmedicinalplantsonpurposewouldbechallenging.But,theKarenmahoutsweren’tinterestedinhavingtheirknowledgescientificallyproven.Afterall,generationshaveobservedelephantsinthejungle.Manybelievedthattheelephantsdideatspecificplantstotreatspecific problems.
Karenmahoutsreported19plantspeciesthatwereusedbytheelephantsthemselvestotreatspecificconditions.Quiteafewoftheseplantswerethesameonesusedbythemahoutstopreparemedicineforthe elephants!
Manyofthemedicinesusedtotreatelephantshadcomefirstfromhumanmedicine.Someplantsusedbytheelephantsfirst,onlylaterwereusedbypeople.Othermedicineswereusedbyboth,soitwashardtotelltheir origins.
LearningFromOthers
Inourhuman-centeredworld,itcanbehardtorememberthatotherspecieshavetheirownknowledge,whichsometimescanbeevengreaterthanourown.Welearnedhowtobuilddamsfrombeavers.Wecopytheshapesofairplanesfrombirds.“Biomimicry”isakindofdesignthatusestheformsandprocessesofnaturetodesignnewhuman technologies.
Similarly,theKarenhaveborrowedfromelephantknowledge,especiallytheirknowledgeof plants.
Thenexttimeyouseeyourdogorcatchewupstrangeplantsintheyard,watchclosely.Theymaybesnackingonaremedy.There’smuchwedon’tknowaboutouranimal companions!
I'mexcitedabouttheworkwe'vedonesofarandlookforwardtothework ahead.
