Drunk animals

David Hambling [ FT413:14] raises the validity of stories of drunken animals, in particular elephants. The modern source of these tales must surely be Jamie Uys’s 1974 film Animals Are Beautiful People. The film focuses on the wildlife of the Namib Desert and features footage of animals (including elephants) intoxicated by gorging on the fruit of the marula tree ( Sclerocarya birrea).

The film also shows the animals recovering the next morning. There were doubts at the time regarding the elephants, but there seemed to be no problem with warthogs and baboons, etc. The film won the 1974 Golden Globe award for Best Documentary Film. Gary Tavender

Howden, East Yorkshire

Many years ago I was a homemade wine enthusiast. After mashing and fermenting a bucket of apples, I strained off the liquor and gave the apple pulp to our pet Billy goat as a treat. He was very appreciative of this, but when I went back indoors and looked out of the window I could see him staggering about the garden. It had not occurred to me that the pulp would be alcoholic. I went back outside in time to see him stagger and keel over on to his side with a glazed expression in his eyes. I could see he was breathing normally, so I picked him up, carried him into his shed and left him to sleep it off. Next morning, I went to let him out and he went off into the garden, apparently unaffected by the previous day’s intoxication.

Brian Stevenson Penzance, Cornwall