Two dozen elephants were reportedly seen asleep after guzzling Indian villagers’ home-brewed alcohol made from mahua flowers. The herd of elephants had been traveling through the jungle in the eastern state of Odisha, India when they found large pots of “muhua” – a liquor mixture made from the flower of the madhuca longifolia tree.
According to Newsweek, the villagers had left the huge clay pots of alcohol in the jungle to ferment when the elephants came across the intoxicating drinks; later they had been reported to have collapsed amid the broken shards of the clay pots. The local residents said they tried to wake up the nine calves and the rest of the herd, but had no success. It took local wildlife officers beating drums to finally get the elephants back on their feet.
Some elephants have become addicted to the mixture and have searched for the alcohol, harming and in a few instances killing five people who had been brewing the mixture. Forest officials warn local villagers not to brew the liquid since elephants have a strong sense of smell and would likely head towards the brewing site.
When they smell it, they can poke their trunks into kitchens or break down walls to get to it. Once finished, they stagger back home, toppling the odd tree or house on the way.
Mahua flowers have a high content of sucrose which elephants enjoy and it is natural for them to be drawn to their sweet smell…
Kartick Satyanarayan, chief executive of Wildlife SOS
There have, however been some arguments about whether the elephants actually were drunk. Because of their body size, experts say they would have to consume a lot of the liquid. In addition, elephants prefer fresh fruit over fermented and the smell of the mahua flowers may not even be appealing to the pachyderms.
Maybe the elephants were just resting? Maybe the elephants were just moving slowly and humans – still not comfortable with existing with elephants, even after their natural habitats have been pushed back by humans needing more homes, more farms and more room. After all, the elephants were there first – give them a break. They deserve to live too.
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