The chimpanzees of the Rekambo community in Gabon, west Africa, never fail to surprise. For a start, they are known to kill and eat tortoises, which sets them apart from other communities of chimpanzees. Now they have been seen displaying another unique behaviour – one that has never been seen before, despite many years of painstaking research.
In their new study, published in the journal Current Biology, researchers have described how they saw Rekambo chimpanzees applying insects to their own open wounds, and, even more amazingly, to the wounds of other community members too.
