Alcohol consumption in animals

Does it bring you advantages or disadvantages? Ethanol is naturally present in almost all ecosystems. Most animals that feed on fruits and nectar consume it. How does alcohol consumption affect behavior in animals?

Anecdotes abound of wild animals behaving as if they were “drunk” after eating fermented fruits. Despite this, it is considered to be rare and accidental. Some environmentalists question this assumption.

Drinking alcohol in animals has some benefits.
Drinking alcohol in animals has some benefits.

Calories, not drunkenness

“Ethanol is thought to be simply something that humans use,” reflects ecologist Kimberley Hockings of the University of Exeter. “It is much more abundant in the natural world than we previously thought.”

The animals already had genes that could break down ethanol before the yeasts started producing it. Evolution honed this ability in mammals and birds that consume fruit and nectar. Primates and tree shrews metabolize ethanol efficiently, Eureka Alert reports.

“From an ecological perspective, it is not advantageous to be drunk while climbing trees or surrounded by predators at night. That is a recipe for not passing on genes. From the non-human perspective, animals want the calories, but not the intoxication.

It was believed to be accidental and rare.
It was believed to be accidental and rare.

Benefits of alcohol

More research is needed to understand its impact on animal physiology and evolution. But it could bring several benefits to wild animals. First of all, it is a source of calories. Odorous compounds produced during fermentation could guide animals to food sources. It could also have medicinal benefits: fruit flies intentionally lay their eggs in substances containing ethanol. This protects their eggs from parasites.

There are many unanswered questions about the importance of alcohol consumption in wild animals. In their future research, the team plans to investigate the social and behavioral implications of ethanol consumption in primates. They want to further examine the enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism.

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