Chimpanzees consume the equivalent of at least one alcoholic drink per day as they eat ripe, fermenting fruit, says a study out Wednesday that addresses one possible reason why humans are drawn to booze.

The study, carried out in the wilds of Africa where the animals live, supports the theory that people may have inherited from primates a taste for alcohol and ability to metabolize it even though it is toxic for us.

The researchers collected fruits that chimps eat and measured their ethanol content, which is produced as sugar ferments. They concluded that these evolutionary cousins of ours consume alcohol on a daily basis.

And not just a little. Through the large amount of fruit that chimps eat, the researchers reckon the animals take in about 14 grams (half an ounce) of alcohol per day

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