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Animals that use Drugs (mander.xyz)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 57 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

Jaguars actually eat the leaves of b. capii, which acts as a MAOI in the Ayahuasca brew.

While there is some discussion that the harmala alkaloids in b. capii might also be slightly psychoactive in high doses, the actual main compound in Ayahuasca is DMT, which is certainly very psychoactive, but not bioavailable when consumed orally without a MAOI. Unless the jaguars have figured out how to combine the two and/or brew ayahuasca, I strongly doubt that's their intention and that they'd get comparable effects.

I think the idea stems from the BBC show Weird Nature showing a jaguar eating yage leaves in episode 6, "Peculiar Potions".

I'm not really sold on how well that content was researched.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (2 children)

B. caapi is called ayahuasca, as well as being an ingredient in the brew with the same name, so the image is not technically wrong.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Sure. In my opinion, however, the overall context of the image does imply the jaguar enjoys similar effects to those clearly requiring the presence of DMT, as that is what is most people commonly associate with ayahuasca.

It's a bit of a "look at all those animals getting high, this jaguar is even talking to machine elves in the 19th dimension" kinda thing, where - if I remember correctly - they actually consume the leaves for digestive purposes.

Again, the leaves do have an effect, e. g. they apparently act as an SSRI (that's how common antidepressants work) and we can't be absolutely sure about their effect on cats (catnip certainly has some effect on cats we don't readily enjoy), so I can't dismiss the notion of jaguars seeking them out for that reason as well.

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