Recreational drug use in animals

Several non-human animal species are said to engage in apparent recreational drug use, that is, the intentional ingestion of psychoactive substances in their environment for pleasure, though claims of such behavior in the wild are often controversial.

Some vervet monkeys in the Caribbean, particularly teenaged individuals, exhibit a preference for alcoholic beverages over non-alcoholic ones, a taste which likely developed due to the availability of fermented sugar cane juice from local plantations.

[3] South African legends, recorded as early as the 1830s by naturalist Adulphe Delegorgue, describe elephants seeking out the fermented fruit of the marula tree, and showing signs of intoxication, including increased aggression, after doing so.

If cats consume concentrated extract of the plant, they quickly show signs of overexcitement, including violent twitching, profuse salivation, and sexual arousal.

The millipede toxins, including cyanide and benzoquinone, are thought to act primarily as an insect repellent, protecting the lemurs from diseases such as malaria, thus making this behavior a form of zoopharmacognosy.