For many people, meeting up with friends and family for an alcoholic beverage is a way to unwind. And it seems chimps are no different. For the first time ever, the wild animals have been caught on camera sharing fermented fruits.
Chimpanzees caught on camera sharing boozy fruit in Guinea-Bissau
Peter the Chimpanzee with papier mache easter eggs filled with healthy treats during the Easter Egg Hunt for Chimps at Blair Drummond Safari Park in Stirling, Scotland Wednesd
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AP Photo
They gorged on the African breadfruit on the forest floor in the Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau. Normally, chimps don't share food. Experts say this is the first time this type of behaviour in non-human great apes has been spotted.
So why are they doing it? "One of the questions that this research has really brought up, and it's something that we want to pursue in future research, is whether there are real social benefits, whether this is analogous to a situation of feasting in humans, for example.
And to get at that question would need to understand who's sharing with who, and under what contexts," says Kimberley Hockings, who was involved in the research and is an expert in Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter.
The fruit shared by the chimps was tested for alcohol content. The maximum level found was 0.61 percent strength, much lower than the boozy drinks consumed by humans. So these chimps are unlikely to wake up with bad hangovers tomorrow.