Chimpanzee Consumption of Boozy Fruit May Illuminate Roots of Humanity’s Love of Alcohol

image via New Scientist

September 17, 2025, 6:45 PM

• •Chimpanzees consume the equivalent of multiple alcoholic beverages a day through the fruit they eat.
• •The study supports the 'drunken monkey hypothesis' that humans inherited their love of alcohol from primate ancestors.
• •Researchers measured the ethanol content of fruit favored by chimps in Uganda and Côte d'Ivoire.
• •The apes ingest about 14 grams of pure ethanol a day, the equivalent of a typical alcoholic beverage.
• •The findings suggest a possible link between ancestral exposure to ethanol in fruit and the human attraction to alcohol.

A new study reveals that chimpanzees consume the equivalent of multiple alcoholic beverages daily through the fruit they eat, supporting the 'drunken monkey hypothesis'. Researchers measured the ethanol content in fruits favored by chimps in Uganda and Côte d'Ivoire, finding the apes ingest about 14 grams of pure ethanol a day. The findings suggest a possible link between our primate ancestors' exposure to ethanol in fruit and the human attraction to alcohol. This research provides further evidence that our fondness for alcohol may have evolutionary roots in our primate past.

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