Scientists discover chimpanzees love partying with palm wine

Drunk chimp
(Image credit: Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

Party down, chimps.

A 17-year study of Guinea chimpanzees' drinking habits, now published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, reports that our closest primate cousins enjoy regular gatherings in raffia palm trees, where they tap into naturally fermented palm wine. Scientists recording the chimps' drinking habits found the animals often drink until showing "visible signs of inebriation," BBC News reports.

While there have been anecdotal reports of animals indulging in alcohol, this is the first study by scientists to actually record the amount consumed and regularity of the practice. Much like humans, the chimps varied in their drinking habits; some sipped, while others consumed the equivalent of a bottle of wine's worth of alcohol in one go. And at least one chimp displayed the same traits as That Guy Bothering Every Group At The Bar.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"While other chimpanzees were making and settling into their night nests, (one male chimpanzee) spent an additional hour moving from tree to tree in an agitated manner," Dr. Kimberly Hockings, from Oxford Brookes University, told BBC.

No word in the study on whether the chimps employ bouncers for such unruly partiers.

Explore More

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.