Ever wondered if chimps can drink milk like humans? Well, the answer might surprise you.
Chimpanzees only drink milk as babies, nursing from their mothers. Once they grow up, milk completely disappears from their diet.
You won’t catch adult chimps sipping cow’s milk or anything like that. As they get older, they lose the ability to digest lactose, which is the sugar in milk.
If they tried, they’d probably end up with a stomachache. Instead, they stick to fruits, nuts, insects, and sometimes meat.
Learning what chimps can and can’t eat gives you a closer look at how different they really are from us. Their diets are honestly pretty fascinating.
Can Chimps Drink Milk? Biological Perspective
Chimpanzees rely on very specific foods to stay healthy. Their ability to digest certain things changes as they grow up.
Their bodies handle milk and alcohol in totally different ways. Biology really shapes what they eat in the wild.
Natural Diet of Chimpanzees
Wild chimpanzees munch mostly on plants—think fruits, nuts, leaves, and flowers. They also snack on insects and sometimes grab a bit of meat.
Milk only shows up in their diet when they’re babies, nursing from their moms. Adult chimps never drink milk from other animals.
They stick to solid foods their bodies can actually handle. You won’t see adult chimps trying to get milk in the wild—it just doesn’t happen.
Lactose Tolerance and Digestive System
When it comes to milk, digestive enzymes make a big difference. Baby chimps produce lactase, which breaks down the lactose in milk.
This lets them digest their mother’s milk without any trouble while they’re nursing. As they grow, their bodies stop making as much lactase.
That means adult chimps usually can’t digest milk well at all. If they drink milk past infancy, it often leads to stomach issues.
Their digestive systems just aren’t built for it anymore. Nature kind of closes that door after babyhood.
Differences Between Milk and Fermented Fruit
Adult chimps don’t drink milk, but they do eat fermented fruit. That fruit contains a little bit of alcohol.
This is nothing like milk. Fermented fruit gives them calories and sugars, plus low levels of alcohol their bodies can handle.
Chimps process alcohol faster than a lot of other animals. But milk? The lactose just doesn’t agree with them as adults.
Fermented fruit fits into their adult diet way better. If you want to dig deeper, check out some animal diet studies—they’re pretty eye-opening.
Chimpanzees and Alcohol Consumption
Chimpanzees naturally get alcohol from their diet, mostly by eating certain fruits. They take in small amounts every day.
It doesn’t seem to affect them the way it does us. Even when they eat fruit with higher alcohol content, their behavior stays normal.
Fermented Fruits in the Wild
Wild chimps eat fruits that have started to ferment. Fermentation happens when yeast breaks down sugars in overripe fruits—like figs or plums—and turns them into natural sources of alcohol.
These fruits usually have about 0.3% alcohol. But because chimps eat a lot—sometimes up to 10 pounds a day—they end up getting a noticeable amount of alcohol from their fruit.
Some chimp groups even seem to prefer fruit with more alcohol. For example, Ugandan chimps go for alcohol-rich figs.
Chimps in Côte d’Ivoire love ripe plums. So alcohol from fruit is just a normal part of their diet in the wild.
You can read more about this in a study on how wild chimpanzees consume alcohol daily.
Alcohol Intake From Diet
On average, wild chimps take in roughly 14 grams of alcohol a day from fermented fruit. That’s about the same as two alcoholic drinks if you compare it to humans.
Their smaller bodies make that amount even more significant. But remember, these levels come from natural food sources, not from deliberately drinking like we do.
They eat the fruit slowly throughout the day, so their bodies never get overwhelmed. This steady pace keeps their blood alcohol levels low, so they don’t get drunk.
Several studies confirm that chimps get the alcohol equivalent of nearly two drinks a day just by eating wild fruit. Here’s some research from Berkeley if you’re curious.
Behavioral Impacts of Alcohol
Chimps munch on fermented fruit with alcohol every day, but you won’t catch them stumbling around or acting tipsy. They stay sharp, dart through the trees, and just go about their business like nothing’s different.
Honestly, that’s pretty different from how alcohol hits humans or a lot of other animals. Their bodies break down alcohol quicker because they’ve got some handy enzymes that help out.
Instead of gulping it down, chimps just snack on little bits of fermented fruit all day. This habit keeps their alcohol intake in check without much fuss.
So, even though wild chimps eat foods with natural alcohol all the time, you won’t see them acting silly or losing coordination. It’s a pretty rare thing among animals, and if you’re curious, there’s more about it in the chimpanzees’ daily alcohol consumption study.
