ANIMALS AND ALCOHOL

ELEPHANTS

Elephants don’t have the same mutation in the gene ADH7 as humans and many other mammals. This means that despite their size, they can get drunk on relatively small amounts of fermented fruit compared to their body size.

BATS

Egyptian fruit bats like ripe fruit, such as figs and dates. But when they eat foods with over one per cent ethanol, they can become tipsy. Bats have mastered flying drunk. One study showed that New World bats can use echolocation to navigate just as well when drunk.

MONKEYS

Vervet monkeys developed a taste for alcohol after discovering fermented sugar cane. Research discovered that the teenage monkeys got drunk more than adults and one in five monkeys preferred alcoholic water over sugar water.

BEES

Honeybees can become intoxicated after drinking fermented limes and tree sap. In many instances, bees have failed to make their way back to their hives after sipping ethanol. Sometimes those that do return aren’t allowed back in.

BIRDS

Berries ferment in winter, which can make the birds that feed on them drunk. The bohemian waxwing is one such species. Most become tipsy but remain in control, but some eat too many alcohol-filled berries can’t fly straight.