Introduction to Chimpanzees’ Drinking Habits
Chimpanzees consume the equivalent of two human alcoholic beverages every day, thanks to their preference for mature fruit. Wild chimpanzees regularly eat about 10% of their body weight in mature fruits every day, and since the fruits often undergo natural fermentation – the process that turns sugar into alcohol – this means that the monkeys consume the human equivalent from two cocktails every day.
Research on Chimpanzees’ Alcohol Consumption
A team from the University of California, Berkeley, measured the alcohol content of the fermented tire fruits that were regularly consumed by chimpanzees at two locations – in Uganda and Ivory Coast. They estimated that due to their usual food intake, the animals can absorb the main type of alcohol in alcoholic beverages every day.
Comparison to Human Alcohol Consumption
A standard alcoholic drink in the USA contains approximately the same amount of alcohol – 14g. If the relative body weight of humans and chimpanzees is taken into account, the monkeys have roughly the equivalent of two standard alcoholic beverages. The chimpanzees showed no obvious signs that they were intoxicated, the scientists said when they ate the fruits for many hours during the food search and restrict the effects of alcohol.
Effects of Alcohol on Chimpanzees’ Behavior
The senior author said that it was "difficult to say how much consumption of this amount of dietary alcohol would influence the behavior of chimpanzees. We know that only the presence of many mature fruits things like those often on territorial patrols and hunting. And the eastern cycle of female chimpanzees is determined in time when they are fertile when large amounts of food are available. It is possible that ethanol could play a role in some of these dynamic dynamics, especially if they are able to consume large fruit volumes quickly."
Chimpanzees’ Diet and Fruit Preference
Chimpanzees are specialists for eating tire fruits that make up more than 70% of their diet. Researchers tried 21 fruit start at the two study locations – Ugandas Kibale National Park and Tai National Park in Ivory Coast. The team examined the most popular types in the chimpanzees who were in Uganda, while the plum fruit preferred with light green meat on the Ivory Coast.
Active Search for Fruits with Higher Alcohol Content
The senior author said "It is certainly plausible" that the chimpanzees are actively looking for fruits with a higher alcohol content – tire fruit with more sugar to the ferry. "We assume that you judge whether you should eat a fruit in your hand that is partly based on the smell of ethanol." The number and diversity of fruits in the chimpanzee diet are "amazing", from "from" bowling ball size fruits to fruits that are almost exclusively composed of seeds and only glued a little with them – and everything in between.
