Mount Elgon Elephants Exhibit Potential Self‑Medication Using Indigenous Plants, Study Reveals

The gate of Mt Elgon National Park. PHOTO/Mt Elgon Foundation/ Kelvin Maima.

By PATRICK MAYOYO

Research indicates that elephants inhabiting Mount Elgon may be employing specific plants to address health issues, based on observations gathered over several decades by the local Sabaot community.

The investigation, released in Scientific Reports, records instances of elephants choosing particular flora when unwell and mothers sharing plant material with their young. Scientists label this behavior as probable self‑medication, yet they caution that therapeutic benefits have not been definitively proven.

Researchers collaborated with eight Sabaot experts—scouts, guides and elders—who each possess more than 20 years of experience observing elephants around Mount Elgon. Their accounts catalogued 35 plant species and four types of soil, minerals or clay that elephants reportedly consume.

From this list, 34 species are known to have traditional medicinal applications within local communities, and 25 are believed to serve medicinal purposes for the elephants themselves.

Eight plants were highlighted as showing the strongest evidence of medicinal use. In these cases, community members associated specific plants with particular health benefits for elephants or observed the transfer of plant material between individuals.

Ten additional plants were frequently mentioned by the experts, nine of which have been documented in prior scientific studies for their pharmacological properties.

The significance of these findings is amplified by the distinctive nature of Mount Elgon’s elephant population.

Mount Elgon, an ancient volcanic massif rising to 4,321 m (14,177 ft) along the Kenya‑Uganda border, hosts a small, elusive population of forest elephants. These animals are known for entering caves, sometimes traveling up to 160 m underground, and using their tusks to extract mineral‑rich material from cave walls.

However, the new study does not conclude that cave mining itself is a medicinal practice or a form of self‑medication. The documented medicinal behaviors were linked to plant consumption; mineral and clay intake was not classified as medicinal in the research.

Dr. Fabien Schultz, the lead author, emphasized that the results underscore the relationship between Mount Elgon’s plant diversity and the health of both elephants and humans.

“The fact that elephants use some of the same plants that local communities employ in traditional medicine reframes habitat protection as a One Health issue,” Schultz noted.

Future investigations will explore whether these behaviors are learned or socially transmitted and identify which plants and locations deserve priority for conservation.

The study also showcases the value of Indigenous knowledge in wildlife research. Eight Sabaot participants provided first‑hand observations that formed a core component of the project, complementing botanical identification, ethnomedicinal expertise, and existing scientific literature.

Kennedy Ngityo Chemoywo, one of the Sabaot experts, stated that local communities have held extensive knowledge of the mountain and its wildlife long before researchers and modern infrastructure arrived.

Field research near the summit of Mt Elgon. PHOTO/ EAWLS.

“This knowledge comes from being part of the forest,” he added.

The researchers caution that their conclusions rely on reported observations rather than controlled experiments, and that direct verification of medicinal effects, clinical diagnoses, or therapeutic outcomes has not been established.

Further studies could involve direct observation of the elephants and laboratory testing of the plants’ pharmacological properties. Such work will be challenging because the animals live in dense montane forest and can be difficult to observe, especially when displaying rare behaviors.

Mount Elgon’s elephants already face pressures including habitat loss, poaching, and human‑elephant conflict. Understanding their interactions with plants and other natural resources could bolster conservation strategies for both the pachyderms and the broader ecosystem.

The study, titled “African elephants putatively self‑medicate with medicinal plants in the Mount Elgon region, Kenya,” was authored by Fabien Schultz and colleagues and appeared in Scientific Reports on 24 September 2026.

The research was supported by the Mount Elgon Foundation, the Mount Elgon Elephant Project, the East African Wildlife Society and the National Museums of Kenya.

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