What does chimp eat clay for?

The chimpanzees use a leaf to scoop up the scoop, dip it into muddy water, bring it to their mouth and squeeze the liquid on the tip of the tongue, or pick up each handful of clay to eat. They are replenishing minerals.

Why do chimpanzees eat clay?

Plus One on July 28 posted the results of an international study after observing chimpanzees in the Budongo forest in western Uganda, eating clay from mud pits and termite mounds.

A chimp is eating clay.(Photo: Anne Schel.)

The team, led by Professor Vernon Reynolds from Oxford University's Department of Biological Anthropology, followed chimpanzees using a scoop-like leaf, dipped in muddy water, brought to their mouths and squeezed. liquid on the tip of the tongue. They also used their hands to pick up the clay on the ground to eat.

Conducted since 1990, the study concludes that the above food change may be due to a decline in the number of raffia palm trees, the main source of minerals of chimpanzees in the past. However, the main reason is that eating clay helps chimpanzees enhance minerals in the diet, while detoxifying and digesting food.

Detailed analysis shows that clay and mounded soils are rich in minerals such as sodium, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, especially high in aluminum. This is characteristic of kaolin clay, which some animals, including humans, still eat to support digestion and detoxification.

Food of chimpanzees, mainly fruits and leaves, contains a lot of acrid substances . Researchers believe that clay provides an effective way to neutralize the astringent that accumulates in chimpanzees.