Tree shrew chugs down lots of fermented nectar, then walks straight line

William Atkins
Tuesday, 29 July 2008 06:55

Science - Biology

The scientists report that Pen-tailed tree shrews average over two hours each night drinking naturally fermented palm nectar.

The drinking behavior of the shrews were observed after the researchers videotaped the animals and tagged them with radio-emitting devices while on their nightly rounds of their local taverns.

Frank Wiens, one of the authors, states, “This is the first recorded case of chronic alcohol consumption by a wild mammal.” [Science News (subscription required): “Nature’s chronic boozers”]

Weins adds, “If tree shrews’ metabolism worked like humans’, they would reach or exceed the legal European driving limit of 0.05 percent blood alcohol content every third night. “

The Science.news article further describes the amount of drunkenness of the tree shrews as similar to: “Licking this much fermented nectar would put them in about the same condition as a European woman drinking nine small glasses of wine over the course of 12 hours.”

The researchers are not sure the amount of inebriation that the tree shrews feel. They suggest that the animals may have evolved a very efficient way to absorb and remove the alcohol from its system.

According to their behaviors after drinking the fermented nectar, the tree shrews appear to be sober, at least from the researchers' point-of-view.

The authors are associated with one or more of the following educational facilities: Tierphysiologie, Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany; Psychopharmakologie, Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit, Mannheim, Germany; Zoologisches Institut, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, Germany; Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Laboratoire National de Santé, Toxicologie, Université du Luxembourg; Toxikologische Chemie, Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Berlin, Germany; Universitäre Psychiatrische Kliniken, Basel, Switzerland Forest Research Institute, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia