Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) C. V.
Morton (Malpighiaceae): jaguar
Some Amazonian people credit their uses of Banisteriopsis caapi, also widely known as ‘ayahuasca,’ from watching jaguars [14]. In the Amazonian rainforest, jaguars have been filmed gnawing on
the bitter roots, bark and leaves of this plant, after which they appear dazed, rolling on their backs (www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqGDv0KCJl8). A similar behavior reported in many felid species, including domestic cats, is the frenzy induced by catnip (Nepeta cataria L.) or silver vine (Actinidia polygama [Siebold & Zucc.] Planch. ex Maxim.), which are reported to also have mosquito-and bedbug-repellent activities [54, 55].
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Jaguarsʼ ingestion of ayahuasca can tentatively be classified as Mode 3 self-medication, for many of the same reasons given above, or possibly Mode 4 if evidence were available to show jaguars using the plant were doing so directly for its anthelmintic properties. However, more detailed information is needed to further understand the context of jaguars and other animals consuming plants with hallucinogenic properties by; for example, do they hunt afterwards, or do they ingest plants when parasite levels are high, and does it subsequently lower these levels? The plantʼs properties could promote alertness or simply be a byproduct of Jaguarsʼ hedonic attraction to the plant, with the functional value being its antiparasitic properties. These pharmacological properties lend support to the functional aspects of the plant for jaguars, but more work needs to be done to understand the possible adaptive value of hallucinogen ingestion in animals.
Although the presented evidence is again this same short, very heavily edited video of a jaguar supposedly tripping on the yage vine.
And regarding the effect on or the reasons of the jaguar, we apparently don’t know and how could we, if all the evidence is this one short clip already suggesting what it is doing? Not very satisfying I must say.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/here-is-a-jaguar-tripping-on-yage-the-ayahuasca-vine/
Thanks. That was a bit too anecdotal for me so I actually searched around a bit more. Didn’t find much but at least this one review article:
https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/pdf/10.1055/a-1586-1665.pdf
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Although the presented evidence is again this same short, very heavily edited video of a jaguar supposedly tripping on the yage vine.
And regarding the effect on or the reasons of the jaguar, we apparently don’t know and how could we, if all the evidence is this one short clip already suggesting what it is doing? Not very satisfying I must say.
ETA: OK, so I dug a bit deeper as seen in my other comment. Apparently this vine isn’t even really psychoactive: “The harmala alkaloids are not especially psychedelic, even at higher dosages, when hypnagogic visions, alongside vomiting and diarrhea, become the main effect.” So, what are the jaguars tripping on then? Maybe they aren’t! Maybe they use it for its purgative effects? This seems all extremely sketchy to me. I don’t think we can definitely say that jaguars are using these vines for their psychoactive effects and saying that they are tripping on ayahuasca is definitely wrong.