Scientists Have Discovered That Chimps Love To Booze Just As Much As Us

A 17-year study of chimps in Guinea has found evidence of habitual alcohol consumption by apes.

Their drink of choice is apparently fermented palm sap, or 'palm wine', which some local people also harvest from the trees by collecting it in plastic containers. (We're guessing it's probably pretty tricky to get hold of a decent gin and tonic in the jungle.)

The chimpanzees climb the trees and create drinking tools by crushing and chewing a handful of leaves to create an absorbent sponge. They then dip this 'leaf sponge' in the sap and suck them dry. Plus, boozing is often something the chimpanzees do as a group – which is another thing we've got in common with our primate sisters.

After drinking up to 85ml of alcohol, approximately equal to a bottle of wine, scientists found that the chimps 'displayed behavioural signs of inebriation, including falling asleep shortly after drinking'.

This is all sounding highly familiar to us...

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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.