00:00Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have revealed something truly astonishing.
00:05Wild chimpanzees in Africa are consuming the equivalent of more than two standard human
00:10alcoholic drinks every day.
00:13And they are getting that alcohol naturally from the fruit they eat.
00:17You might wonder how is this possible?
00:19Well, chimpanzees feed on ripe and fermenting fruits that contain ethanol, a type of alcohol.
00:26The scientists measured the ethanol content in 21 different fruit species from two research
00:32sites in Uganda and Ivory Coast.
00:35On average, these fruits had about 0.26% alcohol by weight.
00:40Even though this may seem like a small number, chimpanzees eat between 5-10% of their body
00:46weight in fruit daily.
00:48That adds up to a significant amount of alcohol intake.
00:52Graduate student Alexey Maro explains that the chimp diet provides about 14 grams of
00:56pure ethanol each day.
00:59That equals one standard American drink.
01:02But chimps weigh roughly 40 kilos compared to a 70 kilo human.
01:07So when adjusted for body size, chimpanzees' alcohol consumption is nearly two drinks a day.
01:12Amazingly, despite this steady intake, chimps don't seem to get drunk.
01:17This discovery supports what scientists call the drunken monkey hypothesis.
01:21It suggests that our ancestors might have regularly consumed small amounts of alcohol from fermented
01:27fruits as well.
01:28So the desire for alcohol could be rooted deeply in our shared evolutionary history.
01:34Primatologists noted that chimpanzees don't show signs of intoxication because their steady,
01:38low-level ingestion of ethanol is manageable.
01:41Now, to get drunk, a chimp would have to eat a painful amount of fruit.
01:46This daily exposure likely helped shape our biology and attitude towards alcohol.
01:51The study was thorough.
01:53Researchers collected fruit samples from Uganda's Nagogo Forest and Thai National Park in Ivory
01:57Coast.
01:58They used several techniques to measure ethanol, including sensors like breath analyzers.
02:03The results were consistent across methods and sites.
02:07Some fruits like the fig species Ficus musuco and the plum-like fruit Perineri excelsa were
02:13particularly rich in alcohol.
02:16Male chimpanzees often gather in tree canopies to eat these fruits, even before heading out
02:21on patrols.
02:22Interestingly, alcohol consumption isn't limited to primates.
02:26Studies have identified alcohol metabolites in the diets of various animals, including birds.
02:32This points to a widespread evolutionary trait among fruit and nectar-feeding animals.
02:37Experts like Robert Dudley, who proposed the drunken monkey idea, believe that ethanol's
02:42smell helps animals find high-energy foods.
02:46Alcohol might also make eating more enjoyable and encourage social bonding in animal groups.
02:51Moving forward, researchers plan to track how frequently chimps choose fermented fruits
02:56and how this affects their behavior.
02:59Barrow even collected urine samples from sleeping chimps to measure alcohol metabolites, giving
03:04insight into their actual alcohol intake.
03:07This groundbreaking work broadens our understanding of alcohol's role in nature and evolution.
03:13It shows that the relationship between alcohol and animals, including humans, is far more
03:18ancient and natural than many realized.
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