When Some Elephants Raid Farms, They Might Not Be After a...

What’s Happening

So basically A recent study suggests that the large mammals may seek out parts of bananas and papayas when they’re suffering from gut parasites, sparking a cross-species exchange of pharmaceutical knowledge When Some Elephants Raid Farms, They Might Not Be After a Snack.

They Could Be Looking for Medicinal Plants A recent study suggests that the large mammals may seek out parts of bananas and papayas when they’re suffering from gut parasites, sparking a cross-species exchange of pharmaceutical knowledge Katarina Zimmer, bioGraphic 7:30 a. Research suggests that elephants use certain plants for medicinal purposes. (wild, right?)

Roger de la Harpe / Many farmers across the western African nation of Gabon the same grievance: waking up to trampled crops after nighttime raids elephants.

The Details

But some elephants aren’t just after tasty snacks, as some observant farmers have noticed—the animals often seek out only the stems and leaves of banana and papaya plants and abandon the nutritious fruit, which lies broken on the ground. “That makes farmers even angrier, because they can’t understand why they just damage the fruits and don’t eat them,” says Steeve Ngama , a conservation scientist at Gabon’s National Center for Scientific and Technological Research, in Libreville.

But why would elephants eschew the fruit? Forest elephants in Southeast Asia are known to eat certain plants when they’re ill as a kind of self-medication, and Ngama recalled research suggesting that banana and papaya leaves have medicinal properties.

Why This Matters

Could it be possible, he wondered, that Gabonese farms are not just buffets for local elephants but also pharmacies? Together with other scientists in Gabon, Europe and the United States, Ngama has now found evidence for this idea. Their study, published in Ecological Solutions and Evidence in October, reports that African forest elephants ( Loxodonta cyclotis ) are more likely to seek out papaya and banana plants when they’re suffering from gut parasites.

Scientists and researchers are watching this development closely.

The Bottom Line

Their study, published in Ecological Solutions and Evidence in October, reports that African forest elephants ( Loxodonta cyclotis ) are more likely to seek out papaya and banana plants when they’re suffering from gut parasites. In 2016 and 2017, Ngama worked with farmers to study crop-raiding elephants in several small villages in Crystal Mountains National Park, a rainforest-enveloped area near Gabon’s Atlantic coast.

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