# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/21 "2013-01-07T08:22:40Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Hang on, I have these bananas in my ears, lemme take them out… > > Okay, come again? I said, “When someone asks me why I have crabapples in my cheeks, I point out that they are rubber balls, and they are in my hands. I don’t know if it ever worked, though, because it’s hard to make people understand you when you have crabapples in your cheeks” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/22 "2013-01-07T09:28:22Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > If not, what made this combo so popular? > > \*I only ask, cuz I just ate a banana, and monkeys are funny. It is popular because bananas are funny too. Just look at the shape of them. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > 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. This also works with female humans. (Except that then it is usually cow meat.) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/23 "2013-01-07T12:34:45Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The answer to that question was, yes, monkeys in zoos really like bananas. What’s the appeal? ---
**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, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/24 "2013-01-07T13:28:20Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > What’s the appeal? The appeal was confirmed. ---
**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, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/25 "2013-01-07T13:34:36Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > 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. Well, it might have helped if it had actually been funny. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/26 "2013-01-07T15:10:01Z")
A monkey eating a banana looks like someone giving a blow job. ---
**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, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/27 "2013-01-07T15:19:15Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > What’s the appeal? Yellow. Variation thread: _Why do cartoonists use banana peels as gag items that people slip on?_ I’ve actually rubbed a banana peel on a piece of concrete in the name of Science and found, technically speaking, Nothing Special. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/28 "2013-01-07T15:19:48Z")
Yep, saw it recently on a reality show on animal planet or something. For the orangutan’s meal, they dumped maybe 200 pounds or so of bananas and that was their meal. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/29 "2013-01-07T15:32:35Z")
I’m Chiquita Banana and I’ve come to say - I’m tired of primates eating me every day. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/30 "2013-01-07T16:16:34Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > A monkey eating a banana looks like someone giving a blow job. But…they CHEW :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/31 "2013-01-08T09:25:46Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > What’s the appeal? For zoos, they are fruit, which monkeys like. And they are a _cheap_ fruit, being readily available in grocery stores. And having a short ‘sales life’ once in a store – once they begin to show the littlest bit of brown spots on the skin, most consumers will pass them over. Grocery store employees generally have to remove ripe bananas from the display once a day, at least. They can use some of those in their deli to make fruit salad, and some in the bakery for banana bread, but most get thrown away. And stores pay to have their trash hauled away. So it would be pretty easy for a zoo to arrange to buy these ‘overripe’ bananas for a very cheap price. Or they could talk to the local grocery wholesale produce warehouse, which has the same situation in even greater volume. ---
**Author:** ![midnight-dreary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@midnight-dreary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midnight-dreary)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/32 "2013-01-08T09:37:27Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > For zoos, they are fruit, which monkeys like. > And they are a _cheap_ fruit, being readily available in grocery stores. > > And having a short ‘sales life’ once in a store – once they begin to show the littlest bit of brown spots on the skin, most consumers will pass them over. Grocery store employees generally have to remove ripe bananas from the display once a day, at least. They can use some of those in their deli to make fruit salad, and some in the bakery for banana bread, but most get thrown away. And stores pay to have their trash hauled away. So it would be pretty easy for a zoo to arrange to buy these ‘overripe’ bananas for a very cheap price. Or they could talk to the local grocery wholesale produce warehouse, which has the same situation in even greater volume. Bananas, cheap?!?! ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/33 "2013-01-08T09:45:55Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Is that so? Since I looked it up, > [@](#): > > [East African Highland bananas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Highland_bananas) were introduced early into Africa from Southeast Asia during the 1st to 6th century AD, probably via trade. They are genetically distinct from the other AAA cultivars, having evolved locally in the East African region for over a millennium. They are found nowhere else in the world and East Africa has been called the secondary center of banana diversity because of this (with Southeast Asia being the first). East African Highland bananas are especially diverse in Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda. … 2.9 million metric tons putting Tanzania in 7th place in the [top 10 banana producing nations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bananas#Trade) in 2010. CMC ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/34 "2013-01-08T12:28:58Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > What’s the appeal? It was a joke. Banana. Appeal. Get it? ---
**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 8, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/35 "2013-01-08T13:19:02Z")
I got it. A little sugar over here, if you don’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/36 "2013-01-08T13:23:06Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Mmmm. Monkey meat. Mutilated monkey meat! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/37 "2013-01-08T13:36:17Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Since I looked it up,2.9 million metric tons putting Tanzania in 7th place in the [top 10 banana producing nations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bananas#Trade) in 2010. > > CMC You can tll they’re Highland Bananas by the tilt of their kilt. :\_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Dord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@The\_Dord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dord)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/38 "2013-01-08T15:02:25Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Hang on, I have these bananas in my ears, lemme take them out… > > Okay, come again? Those weren’t bananas in your ears, that’s the monkey meat they stored for a bit. .. .. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/39 "2013-01-09T01:59:54Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Mutilated monkey meat! Chopped up parakeet? -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302/40 "2013-01-09T20:34:45Z")
I believe I can say without fear of contradiction that monkeys and chimps come much, much closer to eating cartoonish quantities of bananas than cats do to lapping up cartoonish amounts of milk. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-monkeys-or-chimps-really-love-to-eat-a-cartoonish-amount-of-bananas/646302.md?page=1)