Recreational drug use in animals

{{for|alcohol as an energy source or unknown purpose of alcohol consumption|Effect of psychoactive drugs on animals}}Alcohol dehydrogenase class IV, or ADH4, first appeared in hominoids around 10 million years ago {{Cite journal |last=Carrigan |first=Matthew A. |last2=Uryasev |first2=Oleg |last3=Frye |first3=Carole B. |last4=Eckman |first4=Blair L. |last5=Myers |first5=Candace R. |last6=Hurley |first6=Thomas D. |last7=Benner |first7=Steven A. |date=2015-01-13 |title=Hominids adapted to metabolize ethanol long before human-directed fermentation |url=https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1404167111 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=112 |issue=2 |pages=458–463 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1404167111 |pmc=4299227 |pmid=25453080}}, around the time Homininae diverged into hominins and gorillas.

Common chimpanzees have been observed eating overripe breadfruit and sharing it with fellow members of their troop {{Cite journal |last=Bowland |first=Anna C. |last2=Bersacola |first2=Elena |last3=Ramon |first3=Marina |last4=Bessa |first4=Joana |last5=Melin |first5=Amanda D. |last6=Carrigan |first6=Matthew A. |last7=Harrison |first7=Xavier A. |last8=Hockings |first8=Kimberley J. |date=2025-04 |title=Wild chimpanzees share fermented fruits |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982225002817 |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=35 |issue=8 |pages=R279–R280 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2025.02.067}}. While the observed fermented fruits contained anywhere from 0.01 to 0.61% ABV, chimps mostly eat fruit; the effect is likely noticeable but not enough to bring them to inebriation, which would put them at greater risk of predation or bodily injury.

File:Vervet drinking energy drink at Tshokwane.jpg consuming a human beverage (in this case non-alcoholic)]]

Some vervet monkeys in the Caribbean, particularly teenaged individuals, exhibit a preference for alcoholic beverages over non-alcoholic ones, a taste which likely developed due to the availability of fermented sugar cane juice from local plantations. On Saint Kitts, these monkeys often raid bars and tourist beaches for alcoholic drinks, and become visibly inebriated. The proportions of the monkey population that do not drink, that drink in moderation, and that drink to excess mirror those proportions in humans.

{{main|Urban legends about drugs#Alcohol}}

File:Marula01.jpg tree is sought by elephants for its alcohol content when ripe.]]

South African legends, recorded as early as the 1830s by naturalist Adulphe Delegorgue, describe elephants seeking out the fermented fruit of the marula tree, and showing signs of intoxication, including increased aggression, after doing so. This behavior was controversially depicted in the 1974 documentary Animals Are Beautiful People: the crew of the film reportedly staged the scene, either by soaking the fruit in alcohol before allowing animals to eat it, or by simply injecting the animals with a veterinary anesthetic to elicit symptoms of intoxication. Studies have concluded that this is a myth.{{cite journal |last1=Makopa |first1=TP |last2=Modikwe |first2=G |last3=Vrhovsek |first3=U |last4=Lotti |first4=C |last5=Sampaio |first5=JP |last6=Zhou |first6=N |title=The marula and elephant intoxication myth: assessing the biodiversity of fermenting yeasts associated with marula fruits (Sclerocarya birrea). |journal=FEMS Microbes |date=2023 |volume=4 |pages=xtad018 |doi=10.1093/femsmc/xtad018 |pmid=37854251 |pmc=10581541}} One of the studies instead attributed their aggression to the value of the trees as a food source. Yet it may be possible that another intoxicant is at play – elephants are also known to eat the bark of the tree, which often contains toxic beetle pupae.

A 2010 study from the University of Haifa reported that bees prefer nectar containing nicotine and caffeine over that without, and suggested that this preference may be part of the reward system driving the mutualistic feeding behavior.

File:Catnip-effects.jpg under the influence of catnip]]

About 70% of domestic cats are attracted to, and affected by, the plant Nepeta cataria, also known as catnip. The plant also affects some wild cats, including tigers, though the percentage of these cats affected is unknown. Cats sniff, lick, and sometimes chew the plant, and may rub against it, with their cheeks and whole body, by rolling over it. If cats consume concentrated extract of the plant, they quickly show signs of overexcitement, including violent twitching, profuse salivation, and sexual arousal. The reaction is caused by volatile terpenoids called nepetalactones present in the plant. Although these are mildly toxic and repel insects from the plant, their concentration is too low to poison cats.{{rp|61-63}}

File:Steno bredanensis 2.jpg]]

In 1995, the marine biologist Lisa Steiner reported that a group of rough-toothed dolphins near the Azores were pushing around inflated puffer fish and behaving lethargically. Puffer fish defensively excrete tetrodotoxin, which might have been having an intoxicating effect on the dolphins. This behavior was also reported in the 2014 BBC documentary Dolphins - Spy in the Pod. However, tetrodotoxin is not known to be psychoactive, and only produces numbness, tingling, and lightheadedness in small doses, while in larger doses it is extremely toxic. For these reasons, marine biologist Christie Wilcox has expressed doubt that dolphins dose themselves with the toxin intentionally.

Black lemurs have been documented gently biting toxic millipedes, which causes them to salivate, and then rubbing their saliva and the millipede secretions on their fur. The millipede toxins, including cyanide and benzoquinone, are thought to act primarily as an insect repellent, protecting the lemurs from diseases such as malaria, thus making this behavior a form of zoopharmacognosy. However, the toxins also appear to have a narcotic effect on the lemurs, causing them to enter an apparently blissful state, which may serve as a reward for the behavior.

In Tasmania, wallabies have been reported repeatedly entering commercial poppy fields, consuming the plants, and showing signs of intoxication.

• Maladaptation

• Siegel, Ronald K. Intoxication: The Universal Drive for Mind-Altering Substances. [https://books.google.com/books?id=6_nd2DZ-h-UC&pg=PA62 On Google Books]. Inner Traditions – Bear & Company, 2005. {{isbn|978-1-59477-069-2}}.

{{reflist | refs=

{{cite web |last1=Banerji |first1=Urvija |title=Lemurs Get High on Their Millipede Supply |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lemurs-get-high-on-their-millipede-supply |website=Atlas Obscura |date=January 29, 2016 |access-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-date=March 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324134127/https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lemurs-get-high-on-their-millipede-supply |url-status=live }}

{{cite news |title=Stoned wallabies make crop circles |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8118257.stm |access-date=March 22, 2023 |publisher=BBC World News |date=June 25, 2009 |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322201403/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8118257.stm |url-status=live }}

{{cite web |last1=Cooke |first1=Lucy |title=Do moose (and other animals) eat fermented fruit to get drunk? |url=https://bigthink.com/big-think-books/do-moose-and-other-animals-eat-fermented-fruit-to-get-drunk/ |website=Big Think |access-date=April 4, 2023 |date=April 19, 2018 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404145035/https://bigthink.com/big-think-books/do-moose-and-other-animals-eat-fermented-fruit-to-get-drunk/ |url-status=live }}

{{Cite episode | title= Peculiar Potions: Narcotic insecticide | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zd3w2 | access-date= March 22, 2023 | series= Weird Nature | first= John | last= Downer | author-link= John Downer (filmmaker) | network= BBC Four | publisher= John Downer Productions | date= April 25, 2002 | series-no= 1 | number= 4 | minutes= | archive-date= March 22, 2023 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230322190420/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zd3w2 | url-status= live }}

{{Cite episode | title= Peculiar Potions: Happy hour | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zd535 | access-date= March 22, 2023 | series= Weird Nature | first= John | last= Downer | author-link= John Downer (filmmaker) | network= BBC Four | publisher= John Downer Productions | date= April 25, 2002 | series-no= 1 | number= 4 | minutes= | archive-date= March 22, 2023 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230322200404/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zd535 | url-status= live }}

{{Cite episode | title= Episode 2 | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01pfwhk | series= Dolphins - Spy in the Pod | first= John | last= Downer | author-link= John Downer (filmmaker) | network= BBC One | publisher= John Downer Productions | date= January 7, 2014 | number= 2 | minutes= | access-date= March 23, 2023 | archive-date= November 18, 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211118012128/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01pfwhk | url-status= live }}

{{cite news |last1=Goldman |first1=Jason G. |title=Do animals like drugs and alcohol? |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140528-do-animals-take-drugs |access-date=March 22, 2023 |work=BBC Future |date=May 27, 2014 |archive-date=March 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324144130/https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140528-do-animals-take-drugs |url-status=live }}

{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Steve |last2=Humphreys |first2=David |last3=Reynolds |first3=Dan |title=Myth, Marula, and Elephant: An Assessment of Voluntary Ethanol Intoxication of the African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) Following Feeding on the Fruit of the Marula Tree (Sclerocarya birrea) |journal=Physiological and Biochemical Zoology |date=April 2006 |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=363–369 |doi=10.1086/499983 |pmid=16555195 |s2cid=36629801 |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/499983 |access-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322193032/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/499983 |url-status=live }}

{{cite book|isbn=978-1-59477-069-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6_nd2DZ-h-UC&pg=PA62|title=Intoxication: The Universal Drive for Mind-Altering Substances | vauthors = Siegel RK |authorlink=Ronald K. Siegel |publisher=Inner Traditions – Bear & Company |year=2005}}

{{cite journal |last1=Singaravelan |first1=Natarajan |last2=Nee'man |first2=Gidi |last3=Inbar |first3=Moshe |last4=Izhaki |first4=Ido |title=Feeding Responses of Free-flying Honeybees to Secondary Compounds Mimicking Floral Nectars |journal=Journal of Chemical Ecology |date=2005 |volume=31 |issue=12 |pages=2791–2804 |doi=10.1007/s10886-005-8394-z |pmid=16365705 |bibcode=2005JCEco..31.2791S |s2cid=13382917 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10886-005-8394-z |access-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404074637/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10886-005-8394-z |url-status=live }}

{{cite web |last1=Theys |first1=Michael |title=Do African animals get drunk from marula fruit? Or is it a myth? |url=https://africafreak.com/marula-fruit |website=AfricaFreak.com |date=October 22, 2021 |access-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404143551/https://africafreak.com/marula-fruit |url-status=live }}

{{cite news |last1=Umer |first1=Natasha |title=9 Animals That Get Drunk Or High |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/natashaumer/9-animals-that-could-teach-us-something-about-drugs-and-alco |access-date=March 22, 2023 |work=BuzzFeed |date=December 16, 2014 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404074637/https://www.buzzfeed.com/natashaumer/9-animals-that-could-teach-us-something-about-drugs-and-alco |url-status=live }}

}}

Category:Ethology

Category:Psychoactive drugs