Theo Nash
Many animals have been observed to experience inebriation from alcohol, with some species deliberately seeking out intoxication. For example, hamsters, hornets, migratory birds, and even elephants have been known to consume alcohol, either by choice or due to their environment. While the evolutionary advantage of animals getting intoxicated is not entirely clear, it is speculated that it may provide a nutritional or social benefit. Some animals, like hamsters, have an exceptionally high alcohol tolerance, while others, like Swedish moose, can become stuck in trees due to drunken disorientation.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Animals that can withstand the effects of alcohol | Bats, hamsters, hornets, treeshrews, monkeys, migratory birds, rodents, flies, reindeer |
| Animals that have been observed to be intoxicated | Elephants, parrots, moose, wallabies, hamsters, monkeys, rodents, flies, reindeer, waxwings |
| Animals that seek out intoxication | Reindeer, monkeys, rodents, flies |
| Animals that have a taste for alcohol | Elephants, moose, hamsters, monkeys, rodents, flies |
| Animals that have a high alcohol tolerance | Treeshrews, hamsters, hornets |
| Animals that have a low alcohol tolerance | Egyptian fruit bats |
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What You'll Learn
- Elephants have a taste for alcohol but can't get drunk off marula fruit
- Hamsters can outdrink lab rats and have a high alcohol tolerance
- Hornets can hold their alcohol better than any other animal
- Monkeys will get drunk and are easier to capture when intoxicated
- Some birds get drunk and act confused when their berries ferment
Elephants have a taste for alcohol but can't get drunk off marula fruit
Elephants are attracted to alcohol, but they do not get drunk by eating the fruit of the Marula tree. This is a myth that has been around for many years, with stories of elephants getting drunk on the African savannah and travellers' tales from 1839 reporting Zulu accounts that "elephants gently warm their brains with fermented fruits". However, scientific studies have found several problems with this claim. Firstly, elephants eat the fresh fruit from the tree and not the rotten fruit from the ground. Secondly, the fresh fruit does not have enough time to ferment and produce alcohol in the elephant's digestive system. Finally, even if a small amount of ethanol was produced in the elephant's stomach, it would be broken down by the elephant's liver and would not make them drunk.
To get drunk, an elephant would need to consume a large quantity of fermented marula fruit. Studies have calculated that it would take an elephant eating only marulas around 30 kg of the fruit or approximately 714 individual fruits in a day to reach a state of intoxication. This is less than half the amount of marulas needed to produce intoxication, and it is unlikely that an elephant would be able to eat this many fruits in one day. Even if an elephant were to somehow consume enough fermented marula fruit to reach a state of intoxication, the effects would wear off as quickly as the alcohol was metabolized.
While elephants may not be able to get drunk off marula fruit, they do have a taste for alcohol. In India, herds of drunken elephants have trampled people to death after binging on locally produced rice beer. Elephants are also known to visit and revisit the same marula trees, checking the fruits and the bark for palatability and devouring the fruits when they are ripe. This behaviour may be explained by the fact that elephants do not regularly eat a lot of fruit, and their diet is mostly comprised of foliage.
Other animals that have been known to seek out intoxication include hamsters, which can drink a lot of alcohol before getting drunk due to their efficient livers, and fruit bats, which can tolerate the effects of fermentation on fruit and have access to this food source for longer. In Australia, 'drunken parrot season' in Darwin produces dozens of apparently intoxicated red-collared lorikeets each year, likely due to the abundance of fleshy fermenting fruit in the area. Wallabies in Tasmania have also been seen falling around and hopping in circles, apparently high after feeding in local poppy fields.
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Hamsters can outdrink lab rats and have a high alcohol tolerance
It is a well-known fact that animals can get drunk. Since the beginning of plant and animal life, many species have deliberately sought out intoxication and natural highs. For instance, in Australia, 'drunken parrot season' in Darwin produces dozens of apparently intoxicated red-collared lorikeets each year. Most of these birds can't fly, have trouble walking straight, and can be sick for days. Local vets are unsure of the cause, but one likely factor is the abundance of fleshy fermenting fruit in northern Australia at this time.
Hamsters, in particular, have been found to have a high alcohol tolerance. They can outdrink lab rats and have a high alcohol tolerance. Humans have known about hamsters' affinity for alcohol since at least the 1950s, when scientists in Texas found that hamsters could outdrink the common lab rat. While rats can be made to drink alcohol through selective breeding or by feeding them a mix of sugar and ethanol, hamsters will happily drink grain alcohol. In fact, they can drink a lot before getting drunk.
The high alcohol tolerance in hamsters is due to their efficient livers, which process alcohol quickly, ensuring only small traces end up in their bloodstream. A hamster's liver is so efficient at processing ethanol that very little ends up in its blood. This is also likely an adaptation to their hoarding lifestyle. In the wild, hamsters hoard ryegrass seeds and fruit in their burrows, and they eat this fermenting store as it becomes more alcoholic over winter.
Hamsters also prefer alcohol to water, possibly because of the calories it contains. Alcohol has seven calories per gram, almost as many as fat, which has nine. They regularly down 18 grams per kilogram of body weight a day, the alcoholic equivalent of a human drinking a liter and a half of 190-proof Everclear. Despite their high alcohol tolerance, it is important to note that giving alcohol to hamsters is unethical and can be harmful to their health.
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Hornets can hold their alcohol better than any other animal
It's not just humans that enjoy a tipple—many animals deliberately seek out intoxication and natural highs. While stories of drunken elephants on the African savannah have been dismissed as folklore, it is true that elephants have a taste for alcohol. In India, herds of drunken elephants have trampled people to death after binging on locally produced rice beer.
Hamsters also have a well-documented affinity for alcohol. In the 1950s, scientists in Texas discovered that hamsters could outdrink the common lab rat. In the wild, hamsters hoard fruit and ryegrass seeds in their burrows, which ferment and become more alcoholic over the winter. In captivity, hamsters have been known to drink 18 grams of alcohol per kilogram of body weight—the equivalent of a human drinking a litre and a half of 190-proof spirit.
Fruit bats, too, can tolerate the effects of fermentation better than Swedish moose. In a 2010 study, bats were fed sugar water laced with alcohol and sent through a maze with no more trouble navigating than those that were sober. Jaguars in the Amazon rainforest have also been known to chew on the hallucinogenic Yage vine, causing them to act strangely.
However, hornets have the highest alcohol tolerance of any animal. A recent study found that Oriental hornets can survive on an 80% ethanol sugar solution as their only food source, with no side effects. The hornets' diet includes ripe fruits, such as grapes, which naturally ferment over time and turn into ethanol. While ethanol can be nutritious, it is also highly intoxicating. Most animals show signs of impairment or toxicity after consuming ethanol at concentrations above 4%. But hornets possess multiple copies of the gene responsible for the enzyme that breaks down alcohol, allowing them to consume alcohol-rich foods without adverse effects.
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Monkeys will get drunk and are easier to capture when intoxicated
It is a well-known fact that many animals have a taste for alcohol. Monkeys, for example, are known to get drunk and are easier to capture when intoxicated. This behaviour has been observed in both wild and captive monkeys, with the latter being a common practice used to catch wild monkeys.
In the Caribbean, feral vervet monkeys are famous for stealing alcoholic drinks from bars. Similarly, spider monkeys in Panama routinely consume fermenting fruit, and their urine contains breakdown products of alcohol, indicating that they gain a calorific benefit from it. This behaviour supports the "'drunken monkey hypothesis'", which suggests that humans inherited their proclivity for alcohol from their primate ancestors.
One study found that rhesus macaques, when given access to alcoholic drinks, displayed behaviours similar to humans when drunk, including stumbling, falling, swaying, and vomiting. The macaques frequently drank until their blood alcohol levels reached .08, which is the level that disqualifies a person from driving in most states.
Monkeys in captivity have also been observed to develop a taste for alcohol. For example, monkeys introduced to tropical islands with sugar cane plantations were exposed to fermented cane juice, which likely led to their attraction to alcohol. Local stories from these islands describe how wild monkeys could be easily captured by supplying them with a mixture of rum and molasses in hollowed-out coconut shells.
The preference for alcohol among monkeys is not limited to those in the wild or on tropical islands. Captive monkeys, such as a monkey held in a pub by its owner, have also been observed to develop a taste for alcohol and become alcoholics. This behaviour has been documented by scientists studying the drinking habits of primates.
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Some birds get drunk and act confused when their berries ferment
Birds, such as Bohemian waxwings, have been known to get drunk after eating fermented berries. In fact, some birds have ended up in "drunk tanks" in Canada due to their intoxication. Waxwings that migrate south to Britain from Scandinavia in winter often go for ornamental berry trees in shopping centre parking lots and residential areas.
The berries in these locations have often fermented due to freezing and thawing, which causes yeast to speed up the fermentation process. Meghan Larivee, a laboratory coordinator, states that "most birds likely just get a bit tipsy, and very few people would be able to pick them out as intoxicated. However, every now and then, some birds just overdo it."
Birds that eat a lot of fermented berries may become confused and disoriented, and may even crash into windows or other objects. In some cases, birds have been found dead due to fatal falls after eating fermented berries. Young birds may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol, and birds with larger livers may be better able to handle the alcohol.
While birds eating fermented berries is a natural occurrence, human activities can also contribute to the problem. For example, birds may be attracted to ornamental berry trees in urban areas, increasing their risk of injury or death due to intoxication. Additionally, climate change may also play a role, as warmer temperatures can lead to more frequent freezing and thawing, which can increase the fermentation of berries.
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Frequently asked questions
Many animals have been known to consume alcohol, including hamsters, hornets, fruit bats, migratory birds, monkeys, and elephants.
Signs of intoxication in animals can include stumbling, falling, swaying, vomiting, and acting confused. Some animals may also experience changes in behaviour, such as becoming more cavalier around predators or choosing sub-optimal mates.
The reasons behind animal intoxication are not entirely clear. Some researchers have suggested that animals may seek out intoxication for social or nutritional reasons. For example, alcohol might provide quick energy to migratory birds before a long journey.
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