by ETX
Many animals seem attracted by the psychotropic effects of certain plants or substances. Photography manonvanos / Getty Images©
What if humans weren't the only ones to enjoy the intoxicating effects of alcohol or hallucinogenic substances? In nature, many animal species also seek out experiences that alter their state of consciousness. This thrill-seeking reveals fascinating behaviors, sometimes very similar to our own.
For the first time, wild chimpanzees have been filmed enjoying and sharing fermented fruit, rich in alcohol. The scene, captured in the Cantanhez National Park in Guinea-Bissau by researchers from the University of Exeter, shows the primates feasting on ethanol-laced fermented African breadfruit. So was it an accident or deliberate act? For scientists, this behavior could have a social dimension, like human practices. Sharing alcohol -- or fermented fruit -- may strengthen social bonds within the group, an act that is far from insignificant in the chimpanzee world.
Documented on 10 occasions, this habit may well represent the early evolutionary stages of a 'feasting' ritual. "[For humans] we also know that sharing alcohol -- including through traditions such as feasting -- helps to form and strengthen social bonds. So -- now we know that wild chimpanzees are eating and sharing ethanolic fruits -- the question is: could they be getting similar benefits?" says Anna Bowland, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, quoted in a news release. In other words, this behavior may be much more common than previously thought.
And this is not an isolated case. There are countless anecdotes involving animals and substances that have a hallucinogenic, intoxicating or sedative effect. For example, it's common knowledge that cats love catnip for its soothing and euphoric effects. The herb is sometimes referred to as "meowie wowie," as it's compared to marijuana. Surprisingly, wildcats and big cats do not seem to be very sensitive to it. Jaguars seem to prefer banisteriopsis caapi, a species of liana endemic to the Amazon. This plant is rich in beta-carbolines, a type of alkaloid responsible for hallucinogenic effects, which explains why it is used in the composition of ayahuasca. In 2014, a jaguar was filmed while experiencing hallucinations after eating banisteriopsis caapi leaves. However, scientists do not know if the feline knowingly ingested the plant, or if it was an accident.
Each to their own
Meanwhile, wallabies deliberately consume poppies, flowers from which opium, morphine and various painkillers are made. They are grown for legal purposes in about 20 countries, including in Tasmania, Australia. In 2009, Lara Giddings, then Attorney General of Tasmania, reported on the wallabies' fondness for the plant during a parliamentary hearing on its cultivation. She explained that these marsupials regularly trespass on poppy fields, much to the annoyance of farmers. "We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles. Then they crash. We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high," Lara Giddings said at the time.
Similar behaviors have been observed in wild bighorn sheep, which have been known to veer off course and walk across dangerous mountain ridges in search of psychotropic lichen. Like many deer, reindeer are fond of hallucinogenic mushrooms, their favorite being fly agaric. They love this red magic mushroom with white spots so much that they don't hesitate to dig them up even when frozen under winter snow. After having eaten them, the reindeer demonstrate some peculiar behavior. Some have been observed running aimlessly, shaking their heads vigorously, or making noise for no reason. They sometimes break away from their herd after eating fly agaric, making them easy prey for their predators.
The case of dolphins fascinates as much as it divides. In 2014, a series of BBC documentaries showed a group of dolphins playing with a puffer fish, known to secrete a deadly toxin that is also supposedly hallucinogenic. The dolphins push the puffer fish around with their snouts, without hurting it, as if to provoke the release of this substance. But are they really looking for a fix? For now, the jury's out. "I don't see anything peculiar about the behavior of these dolphins. In my view, that's an over-interpretation of what could just be a simple game with the fish," Alexandre Gannier, an expert on cetaceans, told French publication Sciences et Avenir.
A universal urge?
The late American psychopharmacologist Ronald Siegel believed that nature could be a real haven for the animal world's drug users. He and his team traveled the world for more than 20 years to determine whether animals, like humans, take pleasure in consuming psychotropic substances. The answer was clear. "In every country, in almost every class of animal, I found examples of not only the accidental but the intentional use of drugs," he explained in his book "Intoxication: Life in Pursuit of Artificial Paradise" (E.P. Dutton, 1989).
From narcotic plants to hallucinogenic mushrooms, anything that alters the consciousness and sensory perceptions is likely to be appreciated -- and sought out -- by animals. Just like alcohol. Several African mammals, including elephants, like to feast on the yellow-orange fruits of the marula tree. And for good reason: these fruits ferment in the sun and produce ethanol. Primates like to get drunk just as much as pachyderms do, especially vervet monkeys. These small monkeys are particularly fond of drinking, as a 2002 study by the Medical Council of Canada revealed. Researchers placed a thousand vervet monkeys living on the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts in captivity and gave them several beverages, some of them alcoholic. They were surprised to find that only 15% of the monkeys preferred fruit juice to alcohol. The majority were occasional drinkers, more or less.
In the animal kingdom, just like in human society, the effects of alcohol are not to everyone's taste. A Canadian-Mexican research team discovered in 1993 that young vervet monkeys are more inclined to drink alcohol than their elders. Differences in consumption seem to be related to the social responsibilities of older vervet monkeys. "It is possible that adults drink less because they have to be more alert and perceptive of the social dynamics of the group," the researchers wrote in their study.
These observations are no longer anecdotal. They pave the way for a fascinating reflection on our relationship with substances and our place in the living world. Long considered marginal or accidental behaviors, these animal uses may reveal social, sensory and perhaps even cultural phenomena that merit exploration.
Reference
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