Chimpanzees in west Africa observed indulging in habitual drinking

[Bonobo]

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/10/chimpanzees-bossou-south-eastern-guinea-habitual-drinking



The boozing starts from 7am. Though large amounts are often drunk, the sessions are orderly, even sociable. A skinful later, and always before nightfall, enough is enough and they rest.

They are the chimpanzees of Bossou, south-eastern Guinea, and their secret is finally out. With 17 years of evidence in hand, scientists have declared the troop the first wild chimpanzees to indulge in regular, habitual drinking.

But the chimps have cottoned on. In a study published on Wednesday, scientists report 51 incidents of the chimps raiding the palm sap containers. The apes found a big leaf – often one covering the container – and chewed it to form an absorbent sponge or a folded scoop. They then plunged this into the sap, pulled it out and drank.

And drank some more. In their analysis, reported in Royal Society Open Science, the researchers observed the chimps necking on average a litre of fermented sap each time. One male, named Foaf, was a regular, appearing in 14 of the 51 sessions. He was an outlier though. Of the 26 apes observed, 13 were apparently teetotal.