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Chimpanzees Observed Sharing Alcoholic Fruit in Groundbreaking Study

New research documents wild chimpanzees consuming and sharing fermented African breadfruit, offering insights into the evolutionary roots of communal drinking and feasting.

Chimpanzees sharing fruit. image via Anna Bowland/ Cantanhez Chimpanzee Project/ University of Exeter.
wild chimpanzees sharing fermented breadfruit
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Overview

  • Motion-activated cameras in Guinea-Bissau's Cantanhez National Park captured chimpanzees eating and sharing fermented African breadfruit containing 0.01–0.61% ethanol.
  • This marks the first documented case of alcohol-sharing behavior in wild, non-human great apes, with sharing observed on 10 occasions among 17 individuals.
  • Researchers suggest the behavior may reflect early evolutionary roots of feasting and social bonding, paralleling human traditions of communal drinking.
  • The study, published in *Current Biology*, builds on prior findings of a molecular adaptation in ancestral primates enabling efficient ethanol metabolism around 10 million years ago.
  • Future research aims to determine whether chimpanzees intentionally seek out alcoholic fruits and to understand the metabolic effects of ethanol on their physiology.