A new study suggests elephants prepare their own treatments from plants known to have medicinal properties

Tom Parry

Updated 28 September 2026 6:30pm BST

Published 24 September 2026 6:00am BST

A new study suggests that adult elephants prepare concoctions of plants to administer to their young as medicine.

The finding is based on observations of Mount Elgon’s cave elephants in western Kenya by local indigenous people who spent more than 20 years monitoring their routines.

According to their accounts, the elephant herds clustered around Elgon use at least 25 different plant species.

They reported that elephant mothers processed roots and leaves, combined it with their breast milk and administered it to calves, for apparent health benefit.

In one testimony, a wildlife scout described seeing elephants using a plant known as Angurweet, which is used locally as a remedy for ailments such as stomach ache, “as medicine to give to babies”.

The scout described elephant mothers “removing the leaves and chewing…