Lemurs on drugs
High in the Jungle: The BBC has filmed lemurs getting high on millipede secretions.
BBC's nature film masters have already shown in January 2014 how dolphins get into a frenzy with the help of pufferfish (Werbewoche.ch reported). Now British state television is stunning us with new footage from the animal drug scene. The trailer for the documentary "Spy in the Wild: Episode 4" shows lemurs in the rainforests of Madagascar getting high on a species of millipede. When threatened, the insects spray a defensive secretion that contains, among other things, alkaloids, phenols and prussic acid. The lemurs rub themselves with it. This not only keeps insects away, but apparently transports the animals into other sensory states. The millipedes are not killed, but "only" bitten to achieve the desired effect.
The phenomenon has long been known and is also practiced by other primates. The recordings of the lemurs kicking away, however, were published in this form only in February. (hae)
