‘Drunk’ gorilla takes swing at snapper

A 550 pound silverback gorilla tried to pick a fight with an unsuspecting photographer after getting drunk on fermented bamboo stems.

A silverback gorilla

Christophe Courteau, a wildlife photographer, was in Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains capturing images of his group when the gorilla unexpectedly charged at him, as reported by The Telegraph.

The 46-year-old said that after hitting him “like a rugby player”, the gorilla pushed past him and ran through the forest to chase away another male who was trying to attract the attention of a female in his group.

Courteau believes the incident was fuelled by the alpha male’s consumption of fermented bamboo stems, which can cause gorillas to become “extremely drunk and excitable”, according to Courteau.

Animals accidentally getting drunk on fermented fruit is not an uncommon occurrence. In Africa, stories and videos about about elephants and other animals becoming intoxicated after eating fermented marula fruit lying on the ground are common.

However, this effect has been discredited by experts, who argue that an elephant would need to ingest about half a gallon of pure alcohol – equivalent to about 1,400 marula fruit – before it became drunk.