On the morning of 15th May 2003, at around 11.30 hrs I spotted a Langur sitting on the Neem tree in my backyard. It seemed sick and this interested me. I took a closer observation. Its right arm was lacerated and there were wounds on its loins. Probably it was the result of a fight between it and a dog.

I kept a pot of water, some fruits and a roti for it under the tree. After a lapse of two hrs it came down the tree painfully and drank some water. It didn’t touch anything else that was kept for it. It climbed up the tree slowly and started eating Neem leaves. I observed it periodically all through the day. Most of the times I found it eating the Neem leaves.

The next morning again I found it on the same tree. I replaced water, fruits and roti and posted our chowkidar (guard) there for observing. At about 14.00 hrs it came down, drank water and climbed back again without touching the food, but was seen eating the Neem leaves the entire day.

On the third morning looking somewhat better, it again drank the water and kept on eating the Neem leaves. This continued for five days. Its wounds started healing rapidly and it became more agile. On the sixth day around 12.15 hrs it climbed down the tree and went away. By then it had almost recovered.

In such agonizing and crippling condition, it is amazing to see that the animal didn’t touch the fresh and choicest of food kept for it everyday. This shows that they too know the medicinal properties of Neem. They also might know that sometimes food is not to be taken with medicine. It might either result in lesser consumption of medicine or the medicine may react with the food taken and not yield the necessary results.

Its food contained entirely of Neem leaves that may have exuded fluid in the wounds and perspiration with a smell of Neem. This may have resulted in warding off flies hence keeping the wounds healthy to be healed rapidly.

Published in Journal of Bombay Natural History Society: Tehsin, R. H. (2006): Effect Of Neem (Azadirachta indica) Leaves On Wounded Common Langur (Presbytis entellus). J. Bom Nat. Hist. Vol 103 (1) pp 95