Do animals get drunk on purpose or by accident?
We love seeing animals behave like us. Human like properties of animals has been theme of countless movies and cartoons. Even tho those are not met in reality we are excited when dog responds to our commands. But sometimes animals behave human like unknowingly.
What appears to be delicius fruit can turn out to be something else
One of the best treats for animals of Africa is a marula fruit. Its about size of a plumb, very juicy, aromatic and with high vitamin C content. The party starts when those fruits mature to the point of fermentation.
I would consider these comical moments as drunk by accident.
Alcoholic Vervet Monkeys
However, on Caribbean island of St. Kitts, they have much more serious problem with alcoholic monkeys that pester its vacationers to get their drinks. The drunk monkeys phenomenon is being researched by scientist with interested findings, related to human alcoholism.
A controversial research project that involves giving alcohol to 1,000 green vervet monkeys has found that the animals divide into four main categories: binge drinker, steady drinker, social drinker and teetotaller.
The vast majority are social drinkers who indulge in moderation and only when they are with other monkeys – but never before lunch – and prefer their alcohol to be diluted with fruit juice.
Fifteen per cent drink regularly and heavily and prefer their alcohol neat or diluted with water. The same proportion drink little or no alcohol.
Five per cent are classed as “seriously abusive binge drinkers”. They get drunk, start fights and consume as much as they can until passing out. As with humans, most heavy drinkers are young males, but monkeys of both sexes and all ages like a drink.
You can read more about the research here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/3291518/Quest-for-alcohol-gene-sets-monkeys-on-binge.html
But this video sums it up quite nicely.
What do you think? Do animals just love to party or is there more to it?
Thank you for commenting!
Username similar to Bacchus --> posting about alcohol ;)
I really wouldn't be surprised if animals liked getting drunk myself.
Yes, I'm named after him :)
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STOPWell when you give a monkey something dirty or nasty to eat, they wont come back for it, so i think they get drunk out of choice. :-) just like humans ... only it will not be so disturbed as when humans get drunk, for they have no work to go to, they do not clean up their own mess. And they cure their hangover with a hair of the dog.