Not just humans; animals also getting 'drunk' since dinosaurs ruled Earth

There are a lot of people who lead an alcoholic life and cause problems at home and in society. We check the news on the liquor trade and how much booze was sold during each festival. However, it is not just humans that are alcoholics. Some studies have shown that animals also consume alcohol!

It's not something that's started recently. For millions of years, many generations of animals and birds have been consuming intoxicants like humans. Ethyl alcohol or ethanol is the liquor that humans drink. It is on the influence of this that humans become intoxicated and tipsy. Ethanol-rich fruits and some grains are used by animals and birds also. These substances containing ethanol can be found in most places. A study by Trends in Ecology and Evolution released a few days ago has shown that most birds and animals consume them.

Kimberley Hockings, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Exeter, said the findings correct the notion that ethanol is a substance used only by humans. There have been plants on earth with such intoxicating fruits since ancient times when dinosaurs dominated the earth. When the fruits of these plants wither, the ethanol produced in them smells like beer or wine. When the animals eat a lot of these, they get intoxicated. Some wilted dates in Panama contain up to 10 per cent alcohol.

Animals usually collapse even if they eat fruits containing small amounts of intoxication. It is dangerous for animals that climb trees or have enemies around them to consume such fruits. However, they don't try to avoid using this kind of intoxication.