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Mount Elgon Elephants May Seek Medicinal Plants When Sick or Caring for Calves

African bush elephant in Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Research · Behaviour

Wild African bush elephants (Loxodonta africana) around Mount Elgon in Kenya may seek particular plants when they are ill, while mothers may sometimes provide such plants to their calves. These possibilities emerge from accounts given by eight experienced observers from the Sabaot community. Together, they described 35 plant species and four types of soil, minerals or clay that elephants used in ways potentially related to health.

The phenomenon is called zoopharmacognosy: animals using natural substances that may prevent or relieve illness. The difficulty is distinguishing possible self-medication from ordinary feeding or mineral intake. The researchers therefore focused on reports linking an elephant’s condition to a particular plant or an unusual way of using it.

Eight plants linked to illness or calf care

Eight plants were supported by the strongest accounts of possible medicinal use: Aloe arborescens, Bersama abyssinica, Coleus barbatus, Dombeya burgessiae, Dombeya rotundifolia, Dombeya torrida subsp. torrida, Ficus natalensis and Kuloa usambarensis. This does not mean their effects have been demonstrated. Rather, the observers described something more specific than ordinary consumption.

For example, Kuloa usambarensis was associated with elephants that appeared unwell and moved little. The three Dombeya species were reportedly sought in connection with digestive problems, while Aloe arborescens was linked to increased appetite in calves. Particularly striking were accounts of mothers mixing Coleus barbatus, Ficus natalensis and Bersama abyssinica with milk before giving the material to calves. The observers interpreted this as care related to the calves’ health, rather than simply mothers eating the plants themselves.

The study recorded accounts involving five resources used in this kind of care for another individual, particularly from mother to calf. That raises an intriguing question: could elephants seek potentially beneficial plants not only when they themselves are unwell, but also provide them to their offspring?

Local knowledge points to possible medication behaviour

Each of the eight participants had spent more than 20 years in the Mount Elgon area. They also knew how many local plants were used in human traditional medicine. Of the 39 resources described, 34 had such uses, and observers regarded 25 plants as potential elephant medicines. When the researchers examined previous studies of ten frequently mentioned plants, they found documented pharmacological properties for nine.

This makes the reports worth investigating but does not show that the elephants obtain a particular therapeutic benefit. The study relied on first-hand accounts rather than direct chemical measurements or documented recovery in sick animals. The observers’ knowledge of human medicinal uses could also have shaped how they interpreted the elephants’ behaviour.

Long-term local experience can nevertheless capture rare events that are difficult to observe during short field projects. If some of these accounts turn out to describe targeted medicinal plant use, they could reveal something new about elephant behaviour and about the importance of conserving varied plant resources within elephant habitats.

Sources and image credit

  1. Schultz, F., Clark, T. O., Powles, C., Freymann, E., Kinyanjui, R. N., Ndiema, E., et al. (2026). African elephants putatively self-medicate with medicinal plants in the Mount Elgon region, Kenya. Scientific Reports, 16, 28904.Primary open-access research article published 24 September 2026. Eight experienced Sabaot local experts described 35 plant species plus four soils/minerals/clays used by elephants. Eight plants met the study's strongest Mode 4 criteria for putative medication; five resources were associated with mother–calf allocare. The study is based on firsthand accounts and literature comparison, not experimental proof of therapeutic efficacy.

Image: African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, 12 February 2007. Photo: Paul Mannix / Wikimedia Commons. Representative image; not a Mount Elgon study animal. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

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