# Do monkeys (or chimps) really love to eat a cartoonish amount of bananas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302 "2013-01-07T01:36:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/1 "2013-01-07T01:36:49Z")
[Monkeys and bananas.](http://rockinconservative.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/monkey-01.png) It’s depicted in cartoons and eslewhere that I suppose I’ve always just taken it for granted. Like elephants and peanuts, or parrots and crackers, the pair have become inseparable in popular culture. Now, I’m sure they love 'em as much as any other primate, but in reality, are bananas really the ultimate, iconic food for these guys? If not, what made this combo so popular? \*I only ask, cuz I just ate a banana, and monkeys are funny. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/2 "2013-01-07T02:07:27Z")
Chimps and most monkeys love fruit. Bananas are particularly nutritious, but they’ll go for whatever is ripe at the time. As for chimps, probably their top preferred food is meat, usually monkey meat. It’s a much smaller portion of the typical chimp diet, but is rare in that it will sometimes be shared. The guy with the meat, and it’s almost always a male, will look to get favors in return from the other chimps he is sharing his catch with, including access to females for sex. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/3 "2013-01-07T02:14:37Z")
What? I couldn’t hear you. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/4 "2013-01-07T02:27:08Z")
I said, you have a banana in your ear! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/5 "2013-01-07T02:54:25Z")
Hang on, I have these bananas in my ears, lemme take them out… Okay, come again? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/6 "2013-01-07T02:55:26Z")
Mmmm. Monkey meat. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/7 "2013-01-07T02:56:58Z")
Piranhas prefer fruit as well. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/8 "2013-01-07T03:03:57Z")
Chimps are old world apes, and bananas are new world fruit. Has Jane Goodall reported them celebrating Columbus Day? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/9 "2013-01-07T03:04:26Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Piranhas prefer fruit as well. _In Eye-Popping_ _3D!_ ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/10 "2013-01-07T03:06:39Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Piranhas prefer fruit as well. There are dozens of species of piranhas. Can we have a cite for which ones “prefer fruit”? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/11 "2013-01-07T03:07:21Z")
Earlier thread, [Do monkeys really eat bananas?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=365472) The answer to that question was, yes, monkeys in zoos really like bananas. That’s not a good answer to why cartoonists do it, but it’s a start. And once a cartoonist gets hold of a joke, nothing can shake it. I recently saw yet another cartoon about a “chef’s surprise.” I’ve never seen one of those on a menu in my life. A monkey with a banana is a great visual. So is a great big elephant eating a tiny little individual peanut. Do elephants in the wild eat peanuts? No. So? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/12 "2013-01-07T03:08:14Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Chimps are old world apes, and bananas are new world fruit. Has Jane Goodall reported them celebrating Columbus Day? No, but people grow bananas in Africa. Some in chimpanzee territories. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/13 "2013-01-07T03:15:47Z")
Is that so? ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/14 "2013-01-07T04:34:03Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > There are dozens of species of piranhas. Can we have a cite for which ones “prefer fruit”? Not really prefer. Just most of the time. They’re omnivores. Imagine if they eat nothing but animal protein, there’ll be no fauna left in the Amazon basin. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/15 "2013-01-07T05:04:16Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Chimps are old world apes, and bananas are new world fruit. Bananas are an Old World fruit. The genus _Musa_ is native to South and Southeast Asia, and they were probably first domesticated in New Guinea. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/16 "2013-01-07T05:23:50Z")
There’s a great scene in the third _Planet of the Apes_ film where the first words spoken by one of the astronaut apes is “I loathe bananas!” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/17 "2013-01-07T06:18:26Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Not really prefer. Just most of the time. They’re omnivores. Imagine if they eat nothing but animal protein, there’ll be no fauna left in the Amazon basin. Well, I’m just not understanding what point you’re trying to make in a thread about primates. But if you have a cite that some piranha species eat fruit “most of the time”, I’m sure we’d all like to see it. If you don’t have a cite, then it might be better to just give it up. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/18 "2013-01-07T06:30:44Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Piranhas prefer fruit as well. And here I was worried about my nuts. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/19 "2013-01-07T07:14:18Z")
Now I’m trying to picture a piranha trying to peel an orange. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/20 "2013-01-07T07:41:45Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Well, I’m just not understanding what point you’re trying to make in a thread about primates. > > But if you have a cite that some piranha species eat fruit “most of the time”, I’m sure we’d all like to see it. If you don’t have a cite, then it might be better to just give it up. They’re omnivores, all of them. Their diets change with the seasons (more dangerous to animals during the dry, no-flood periods.) When the plains get flooded and you have a lot of fruit and seeds falling in the water, it’s food for them. Some like less ‘toothsome’ food like the pacu and this one: > **[genus Pygopristis, Fruit-Eating Piranha](https://www.angelfire.com/biz/piranha038/genusPygopristis.html)** And no, you didn’t get my first point which was more of a joke than anything. It’s all about the subject of monkeys and generally monkeys ~= humor. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302.md?page=2)