The Zoo That Served Alcohol To Its Animals

 

In the early 1900s, the Bronx Zoo treated alcohol as medicine.

Zookeepers believed beer, wine, and spirits could calm animals, improve digestion, or restore energy. Bears were given beer. Monkeys sipped wine. Even elephants were sometimes dosed with alcohol during illness or stress.

 

The results were mixed.

 

Some animals became sluggish and unresponsive. Others grew agitated and unpredictable. Keepers slowly realized that what relaxed humans didn’t work the same way on animals.

 

As veterinary science improved, alcohol treatments quietly disappeared. No announcements. No scandals. Just a slow change in practice.

 

The zoo moved on.

 

So did history.