Animals Like Us Animal Medicine
Like us, animals are exposed to parasites, bacteria and viruses – the germs which cause disease. How do they survive these attacks? Recent research and observation have shown that animals use plant and insect substances to treat themselves – not only do they apply things to their skin, they actually treat themselves by feeding on things not normally part of their diets. Capuchin monkeys rub citrus fruit on their fur, caterpillars eat poison hemlock, herbivorous red deer have even been seen chewing the legs off live seabirds. This film takes off around the world to discover how animals use medicine, it questions what notions they have about health and how medical knowledge is passed on from one generation to the next. In doing so, the film also asks what we can learn from animals about medicine.
How strong is the similarity between animals and humans? At first glance, we do not have so much in common. But forget the pressures of religion, culture and society. Make abstraction of what we have always believed and see the truth in the eye. Man is by no means an outsider in the evolution of the species. Five years filming brought the truth to light: the animals did it first! This series examines the similarities between humans and animals in the area of Emotions, Language, Medicine, Homosexuality, Adoption, Tools, Trade, Play Mode, Culture and Politics.
Primary Title
- Animals Like Us
Episode Title
- Animal Medicine
Date Broadcast
- Tuesday 18 July 2006
Start Time
- 19 : 30
Finish Time
- 20 : 30
Duration
- 60:00
Episode
- 2
Channel
- National Geographic Channel
Broadcaster
- Sky Network Television
Programme Description
- How strong is the similarity between animals and humans? At first glance, we do not have so much in common. But forget the pressures of religion, culture and society. Make abstraction of what we have always believed and see the truth in the eye. Man is by no means an outsider in the evolution of the species. Five years filming brought the truth to light: the animals did it first! This series examines the similarities between humans and animals in the area of Emotions, Language, Medicine, Homosexuality, Adoption, Tools, Trade, Play Mode, Culture and Politics.
Episode Description
- Like us, animals are exposed to parasites, bacteria and viruses – the germs which cause disease. How do they survive these attacks? Recent research and observation have shown that animals use plant and insect substances to treat themselves – not only do they apply things to their skin, they actually treat themselves by feeding on things not normally part of their diets. Capuchin monkeys rub citrus fruit on their fur, caterpillars eat poison hemlock, herbivorous red deer have even been seen chewing the legs off live seabirds. This film takes off around the world to discover how animals use medicine, it questions what notions they have about health and how medical knowledge is passed on from one generation to the next. In doing so, the film also asks what we can learn from animals about medicine.
Classification
- PGR
Owning Collection
- Chapman Archive
Broadcast Platform
- Television
Languages
- English
Captions
Live Broadcast
- No
Rights Statement
- Made for the University of Auckland's educational use as permitted by the Screenrights Licensing Agreement.
Genres
- Animals
- Documentary