Whether it’s a drug produced naturally in the wild or human-created, some animals love to seek out substances to help them get high
The animals that get high on drugs: From dolphins blissed-out on pufferfish toxins to the reindeer who love magic mushrooms
Over hundreds of years from across the globe come stories of animals enjoying getting intoxicated from chemicals produced naturally in the wild – gorging on fermented fruit and feeding in poppy fields.
How much of this anecdotal evidence is true and how much is us projecting our human behaviours onto said creatures has been hard to define. However, more evidence and research is coming to light to prove that in some cases yes, there are animals who definitely do enjoy getting high.
Discover animals that enjoy getting high
Dolphins
Despite being one of the most poisonous fish in the ocean, adolescent dolphins have been known to
play catch and antagonise deadliest animals in the sea, just enough to make them release a small amount of a neurotoxin.
The toxin can kill, but in small doses it has a narcotic effect. The BBC footage above shows dolphins becoming “blissed out” and actually passing the pufferfish around the group. Once the group are satiated, they release the pufferfish, which deflates and swims away.
Wallabies
Tasmania supplies approximately half of the world’s legally grown opium poppies, from which pharmaceutical morphine and other painkillers are produced. Red-necked wallabies occasionally raid the crop to feed on the poppy heads. Growers have reported finding dazed and confused wallabies wandering in the fields.
Reindeer
In Scandinavia, fly agaric toadstools containing psychoactive alkaloids that can cause distorted sight, drowsiness and dizziness, are a favourite food of reindeer. In the Arctic circle in autumn they seek them out, even under an early blanket of snow. In the past Sami shaman have used the mushrooms in their rituals and apparently even tried to drink the urine of reindeer under the influence.
Bees
Research suggests that, just like us, bees enjoy a caffeine fix. Unlike us, though, they don’t have to shell out a fair sum of money for a coffee each morning. They get it from drinking the nectar of certain flowers, such as coffee and citrus plants – and this buzz enhances the bees’ memory of particular plants, making them more loyal when pollinating these species.
In an experiment with caffeinated nectar, it was even found that the caffeine made the bees “dance” much more. They were more likely to perform their waggle dance – the movement a bee makes to communicate to others the location of a nectar source.
Vervet monkeys
On the Caribbean islands of St. Kitts, Nevis and Barbados, vervet monkeys have developped a taste for the stronger stuff, having learnt to steal alcohol from local bars and unbeknownst tourists. The monkeys have been studied for insights into our own drinking habits, and interestingly a certain percentage of the groups prefer little or no alcohol, the same percentage as in the human population.
- Find out more similarities between us and our closest living relative, the chimpanzee
- Are there any wild monkeys in Europe?
- What are Old World Monkeys?
Lorikeets
At the start of the wet season in northern Australia, dozens of intoxicated red-collared lorikeets are collected on Darwin’s streets. “They can’t fly, and they have difficulty climbing or balancing on perches,” reports Stephen Cutter, resident vet at Ark Animal Hospital.
The birds have almost certainly been feeding from Schotia brachypetala, a tree introduced from Southern Africa and known locally as the ‘drunken parrot tree. Its flowers contain so much nectar that it ferments before it’s harvested, and parrots ingest high levels of alcohol.
Elk
In southern Sweden, an elk was reported feeding on fermenting apples and trapping its long front legs while attempting to reach the highest fruit. The elk had to be cut free by firefighters and was said to be in a “drunk, or half-stupid” state. Any fruit containing sufficient sugar can be subject to natural fermentation, however, evidence that the amount of alcohol produced can affect the large size of an elk’s body is yet to be found.
Elephants
South African elephants have been filmed apparently becoming tipsy on fermented marula fruit, though again, they are unlikely to consume enough fruit to get intoxicated. Another theory is that they may be ingesting neurotoxin-laden beetle pupae that live in the bark of the marula tree. Eating the pupae with the fruit could induce a ‘drunken’ state.
Find more answers to questions on other incredible animal traits…