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Saving our closest relatives: An Interview with the world’s only Bonobo Sanctuary

First things first, you might be asking yourself  ‘Funky name, but what on earth is a Bonobo?’. 

Also known as the pygmy chimpanzee, bonobos are primates found in the Congo basin in Africa, and they also happen to be our closest living relatives alongside the chimpanzee. We share 98.7% of our DNA with Bonobos, meaning they are more closely related to us than they are to gorillas. That’s bonkers.

Bonobos are unique amongst not only primates, but the majority of mammals in the animal kingdom for their “make love not war” attitude, and putting the females in charge. Sadly, they’re also now endangered. The primary root causes are poverty, which drives people into illegal poaching, and habitat loss due to deforestation.

Mother and baby bonobo. Photo by Leon Haberkorn for Lola ya Bonobo.

I became curious to know more about what makes Bonobos so special and how we can go about saving our closest relatives. Therefore, I reached out to the world’s only Bonobo sanctuary, Lola Ya Bonobo, to find out more.

1. Please could you tell me about your role within the sanctuary and how you came to work for Lola ya Bonobo?

Hello, I’m Friends of Bonobos’ Executive Director Ariel Rogers. We are the US-based sister organization of Lola ya Bonobo, working closely with them to raise awareness for bonobos internationally. Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary is renowned for its work to rescue and protect endangered bonobos, but they do so much more, including rainforest protection, bonobo releases back to the wild, bonobo conservation in the wild, local education and awareness, and community development around wild bonobos.

Prior to coming to work for Friends of Bonobos, I led two other nonprofits focused on rainforest protection in the Democratic Republic of Congo and felt inspired by the animals that lived in the areas we were protecting, especially bonobos. My education and background in management, marketing, and nonprofit conservation work in the DR Congo paired with my lifelong passion for animal welfare made this the perfect role for me. I feel incredibly lucky to get to work on behalf of such an amazing species!

2. As the world’s only bonobo sanctuary, what inspired founder Claudine André to set it up?

In the mid 1980s, Claudine André was volunteering at the Kinshasa Zoo when a man brought in a sick baby bonobo. The zoo director warned her not to pour her heart into the little bonobo. Keeping bonobos was extremely difficult, and sick ones had not been known to survive. Yet, Claudine resolved to find a way to save the bonobo. She named him Mikeno. 

With close attention and mothering, she was able to successfully rehabilitate the baby. The secret she had uncovered was that in addition to medical care and proper nutrition, baby bonobos need love and affection to survive. Word began to spread throughout the area and soon, people from all over were bringing orphaned baby bonobos to Claudine. This led her to found Amis des Bonobos du Congo (ABC) in 1994 and soon after created the sanctuary, Lola ya Bonobo. “Lola ya Bonobo” means Bonobo Paradise in Lingala, one of the national languages of the DR Congo. She and her team, now led by her daughter, Fanny Minesi, have been rescuing and rehabilitating bonobos ever since.

Claudine André alongside a young bonobo rescue and his surrogate mother. Photo: Lola ya Bonobo

3. were there any challenges along the way how did the team overcome these to make it the success it is today.

There were, and continue to be, severe challenges to saving bonobos. Bonobos are only found in one place in the entire world – the Democratic Republic of Congo – a country that has experienced war and political instability throughout much of its history. Widespread poverty is a main driver of poaching and the bushmeat trade that both threaten bonobos. 

In addition, everything takes a lot of time due to limited infrastructure in the remote rainforests which makes navigation and access to electricity difficult. 

Claudine always believed she could accomplish what she set her mind to – and she has. In my opinion, her success is largely due to her fierce ability to push through obstacles with incredible problem-solving and coalition-building skills. When she was told ‘no,’ which was very often, she just kept looking for the solution that was a ‘yes.’ 

4. What’s so special about bonobos? Why should we care about the protection of the species?

Bonobos are one of the most peaceful and cooperative species on the planet. They’re great at sharing and they’re welcoming to strangers. Bonobos resolve conflicts with love and affection. And bonobos don’t kill each other. They have a lot to teach humans!

Mama S’arrive and baby bonobo, Tshimbulu. Photo: Lola ya Bonobo

Here are some of the things we know about bonobos:

• They are our closest living relatives. We are more closely related to bonobos (and chimpanzees) than we are to any other animal on earth. We share 98.7% of our DNA with bonobos – this means they are more closely related to us than they are to gorillas.
• Females are in charge. The main reason that bonobos are so peaceful is that they are matriarchal, which is unusual in the animal kingdom. The females work together to manage aggression in males.
• They’re peaceful and avoid conflict. Bonobos have evolved to avoid fighting, about anything. When the potential for conflict arises, chimpanzees experience a rise in testosterone, which is related to competitiveness, while bonobos experience a rise in cortisol, which is related to stress. This stress response leads bonobos to seek social reassurance. Over evolutionary time, bonobos have become much less aggressive than their ape relatives, including humans. There is no known case of a bonobo killing another bonobo. We cannot say the same thing about humans or chimpanzees!
• They’re good samaritans. Research shows that bonobos feel empathy not only towards those they know, but also those they don’t. When presented with the choice to share food, they preferred to share with strangers. 
• Bonobos, both male and female, are known for their frequent use of socio-sexual contact to relieve tension and form bonds with one another.

Bonobos grooming each other. Photo: Leon Haberkorn for Lola ya Bonobo

5. bonobos are currently endangered partly due to the illegal bushmeat trade. however, are there any other threats facing the species such as deforestation.

Deforestation, commercial farming, and any other activity that destroys their rainforest habitat are problems threatening bonobo survival. For bonobos to thrive in the wild, access to suitable habitat is critical. That’s why Lola ya Bonobo has worked hard over the years to secure prime swamp rainforest. This is where we release bonobos who have been rehabilitated at Lola ya Bonobo. The release site, called Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve, consists of 120,000 acres of protected rainforest managed in partnership with the neighboring communities and supported by the local and national government agencies. The reserve is patrolled by eco-guards who protect the bonobos from poachers.

However, poverty is the primary cause of poaching, so it’s vital that we address the underlying causes of extreme poverty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo if we are to reverse the course of bonobo extinction.

6. It is illegal to own, sell or kill bonobos, but it’s still happening far too often on the black market. What key factors will be paramount in changing behaviour and ending the trade?

Community development and awareness building are both crucial to changing behavior and ending the bushmeat trade. Extreme poverty is the main driver of poaching and bushmeat, which is why developing alternative sources of income is so important. Education and awareness building also play a large role in bonobo conservation. 

Highlighting the uniqueness of bonobos and the biodiversity they add to the DRC promotes a sense of pride and responsibility among Congolese people, who then understand the urgency of working to conserve them. 

Another key part of ending the black market is to stop the import from other countries. This requires stronger international laws and better enforcement of the laws that exist. 

Basically, if there were no demand, there would be no need to kill bonobos!

7. Education and community involvement is such an important aspect of conservation. How is Lola ya Bonobo empowering communities to build a better future through conservation as opposed to the bushmeat trade?

The majority of staff members at both Lola ya Bonobo and Ekolo ya Bonobo are Congolese people. They occupy a range of positions including veterinarians, bonobo keepers, surrogate mothers, and eco-guards. 

ICCN eco-guard team at Elonda. Photo: Lola ya Bonobo

These opportunities not only provide sources of employment, but also encourage local people to become invested in bonobo conservation. Recently, our bonobo release site, Ekolo ya Bonobo, was promoted into a community forest reserve, meaning that it is now under a partnership with the local communities. Together, we work to manage the reserve in a way that both benefits people while also continuing to protect bonobos. 

8. What education programmes do you run? How have these been successful?

One of our biggest educational tools is the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary itself. Each year, thousands of schoolchildren tour the sanctuary and learn about bonobos and reasons to conserve them. They also have the opportunity to view a living bonobo in a natural environment – something many of them have never been able to do. Just being able to see a bonobo is in itself a powerful thing that helps children form a deeper connection with conservation. We also host “Kindness Clubs” and other educational programs in local schools around Kinshasa to bring conservation to the classroom. 

School children on a tour of the sanctuary. Photo: Lola ya Bonobo

Our educational work extends beyond Kinshasa and the sanctuary and into the rainforest areas where bonobos are heavily trafficked. We host all kinds of awareness activities deep in the heart of the rainforest, in the classroom but also in the general population. We even have pedal-powered film projectors so we can show videos about conservation in the most remote parts of the DRC where there is no electricity. Since the initiation of our educational programs, studies have shown attitudes towards bonobos and conservation are steadily improving among children in the DRC, and more people are taking action to help us rescue them.

9. Lola ya Bonobo has made the world’s only two bonobo releases. Could you tell me a little more about the releases and how they were successful?

It takes years of planning leading up to the bonobo releases. First, we monitor the behavior of every bonobo at the sanctuary and note which individuals have the strongest relationships and are the most socially competent to determine who should be included in the release group. They begin their training to live in the wild while still living at Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary. The bonobos are then quarantined on Totaka Island where they receive minimal human interaction to prepare them for integration into the wild. 

Once released into Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve, the bonobos are monitored by our bonobo trackers to understand how they are adjusting to life in the wild. They are also protected by eco-guards who keep the release site safe against poachers. There are more than 30 bonobos living in the reserve and they’ve had at least five babies, a good sign of success.

10. Do you breed bonobos at the sanctuary? If not, do you ever plan to?

Although bonobos engage in sexual behaviour quite often, much of it is social, not reproductive. Bonobos can only have babies about every 5 years – it’s one of the reasons they are so endangered. While we do not have a breeding program in place, we also do not discourage the bonobos from reproducing since their numbers continue to dwindle in the wild. When a bonobo mom is expecting a baby, her health is monitored by our veterinary staff to ensure successful deliveries. At birth, baby bonobos get a thorough health check. Bonobos born at Lola ya Bonobo are eligible for release alongside their wild-born friends.

Dr. Jonas looking after baby Monkoto, one of the sanctuary’s new rescues. Photo: Lola ya Bonobo

11. with as little as 5,000 bonobos left in the wild, how long do we have to save the species.

We don’t really know. The size of the bonobo population in the wild is unknown. But we do know their populations are declining. They are under severe pressure because they are only found in the DRC and only south of the Congo River. Their habitat is being logged and opened up for agriculture. Their slow reproductive rate makes it hard for their numbers to even stay stable. 

Some experts estimate we have just one lifetime, about 70 years, left to turn things around, or bonobos could become extinct…

12. How can people get involved with the sanctuary and make a positive difference?

The easiest and most effective way to support the work of Lola ya Bonobo is  to make a donation . Gifts and grants pay for everything we do for bonobos, from feeding the bonobos at the sanctuary to transporting orphaned bonobos to paying our eco-guards to patrol and stop poaching. 

You also can become a  “Bonobo Champ”  – donate your birthday or run your own fundraising event. You can also make a difference by raising awareness for bonobos. Share our stories on social media about the threats to our peace-loving cousins. 

If you ever get the chance, visit the sanctuary! You can do a day tour or stay overnight at the eco-lodge ( More info here. ) 

Lastly, to stay informed about bonobos, join our email list! Go to our website to sign up:  www.lolayabonobo.org

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Bonobo Trekking in the Iyondji Reserve

About the author.

The endless expanse of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s rain forests can only be fully appreciated from the air, but the complexity of its life and the timelessness of its beauty are best grasped from the forest floor.  Attempts to describe it with words alone are futile and inadequate.  

It is the vine-draped Africa of Tarzan, diametrically different from the glowing plains and low hills of Kenya and Tanzania.  It is a world of deep shadow, dripping branches and a leafy carpet that explodes with insects at each swishing movement of the shoe.   And here, in a finite range south of the Congo River, lies the home of homo sapiens’ nearest genetic relative, the bonobo .

Judging exclusively by appearance, the bonobo appears at first blush to be a slightly scaled down version of the chimpanzee.  But the differences are significant.  The bonobo is indeed smaller than the chimp and its facial features, although structurally similar, tend to be much darker.  Unlike the chimp, its lips are a bright pink.  Behaviorally, the bonobos bear even less similarity to the chimpanzee.  They are demonstrably more peaceful, cooperative and much less aggressive.  The sum total of the world’s bonobo population is not known with clarity, but it is certain that they are found only in the DRC, their range is restricted and shrinking, and they are among the world’s most critically endangered species.

Aerial view of the Congolese rainforest

And I can confirm now from personal experience that bonobos are not easy to locate in the wild.   Just reaching them can be an arduous physical challenge.   In order to get to the Iyondji bonobos, one must first endure four hours on the back of a dirt bike from the remote village of Djolu.   Then there’s about a two-hour trek to a lovely river, the last half of which is through a treacherous swamp that can (and in my case, did) swallow a person past the waist.   This is followed by an hour-long pirogue ride to another trailhead through a stunning canopy of trees.   The next leg is about an hour and a half up a gentle slope through heavy forest to an isolated tracker’s camp, about a two acre clearing adjacent to a pristine stream in a stretch of heavy jungle.  The camp is clean and well maintained, but its most prominent feature is its insect life, specifically thousands of bees.  They are not large (about the size of an American honey bee), nor are they particularly aggressive, but they are omnipresent during daylight hours and entirely inescapable.  And they do sting.

Along with my friend Nakedi Maputla, I joined AWF’s trackers at this camp early on a March evening with the hope of locating and photographing bonobos in the wild.   About an hour after dark a team arrived from the forest with the good news that the bonobo troop under observation had nested for the night less than two hours from us.  An early start the following morning would allow us to reach them by sunrise. 

On schedule, at 3:30 am the lead tracker appeared at my tent fly and said ‘Mr. Billy … it is okay to wake up now.”  By 4 am we were off, winding through dense forest after a heavy rain, and by 5:45 we were with the bonobos.  The entire troop was up and in motion by 6 a.m. but it was impossible to capture any images because the early morning light, particularly under overcast skies in deep cover, was entirely inadequate for photography.   The troop began to “march” through the treetops at about 6:15 and that’s when the real fun began.

Nakedi Maputla taking a well-deserved rest on the forest floor

The bonobos sped freely through the canopy as if they were on a mission.   On the ground, the going was much more difficult.  The trackers hacked through tough undergrowth for several hours in pursuit and many times it appeared the troop would elude us.  But they usually managed to give away their location with a series of shrieks and we were off again in pursuit.  At around 11 a. m. the animals took a short breather, resting in the branches a short distance away.  This troop was not habituated to human presence.  At best, they were mildly and occasionally tolerant … but for the first and only time on that day they were “photographable.”   With the aid of Nakedi and his persistent team of trackers, I was able to capture a few images.   The bonobos began to march again shortly thereafter and they remained well out of photo range for the balance of the afternoon.

Day two was launched with unjustified optimism.  The primary tracking team departed camp at the usual time, but we, with the mother of all bad calls, left two hours later at 6 a. m., having learned that photos were impossible before 8 o’clock anyway.    The advance party located the bonobos before sunrise, but it took our photo team six full hours to catch up with them and the bonobos.  The troop began to march just as we caught up with them and we were led on another grueling hike through heavy undergrowth and across wide streams.  Finally, in the middle of an oppressively warm and humid afternoon, the troop halted near a river and a lone bonobo eased into view, just within photo range.  My assistant slapped on my 80-400mm lens and I started clicking.  After about a dozen or so shots the humidity overwhelmed my equipment… but by then the bonobos were on the march anyway.  This time they outpaced us and we were finished for the day.

Iyondji bonobos

Two days of bonobo trekking left me with some very powerful impressions.  The most immediate was the knowledge that this was far and away the most labor-intensive photography I’ve ever attempted.  Nakedi and I estimated that we’d hiked about 35 kilometers during those two disproportionately warm days and come back with less than twenty usable photographs.  That seems a small return on physical investment, but I wouldn’t trade those few images for a thousand good elephant photographs from Amboseli… that’s because I can ride in a land rover in Kenya, sit still while the elephants brush past me within arm’s length and relax and have a sip of water whenever I damn well feel like it. 

I was also amazed by the stamina of our trackers.  Granted, they are all decades younger than me, fully acclimated and none of them have an ounce of fat.   But to be able to go all day in tropical heat without taking a drink, to navigate barefoot across a forest floor that continuously tripped me up, and to locate bonobos in a jungle the size of Texas… it all seemed superhuman.  They have my utmost admiration and respect.

But the most compelling aspect of this experience for me was simply the opportunity to stand in company with some of nature’s rarest animals… and to appreciate the extraordinary opportunity to experience the rain forest in a way that most people never will.  I can’t wait to go back.

The best bonobo trackers in the business 

All photos by Billy Dodson

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Congo Travel and Tours

Expeditions into Africa's Last Frontier

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Meet the bonobos of the drc – in the wild.

This expedition is suitable for nature and animal lovers who want to see and photograph one of Africa’s most exclusive wildlife species: the bonobo. Congo Travel and Tours offers a unique trip to see wild bonobos. Because these bonobos are tracked daily by trackers who stay nearby (just like habituated gorillas), it is easy to find the bonobos in the rainforest. During your stay you will almost certainly see bonobos, sometimes up to 50! For this travel we leave from the capital of Congo: Kinshasa. We take a boat on the mighty Congo River and you immediately get a wonderful first impression of this huge country and life on and along the Congo River. We get to know the life of the village and also take a look at some local initiatives and appreciate the peace and simplicity. And yes, our expedition takes place in a stable, peaceful region, free from violence.

We stay in simple accommodations in the rainforest and eat local dishes. If you like to snack, it is worth bringing something (biscuits, crisps, etc.). Also, don’t forget all the obvious things like a quick-drying towel, suitable clothing (quick-drying), good shoes, boots, swimwear, toiletries, sunglasses, a cap, sunscreen, DEET, a mosquito net, medicine, a torch, power bank, batteries, ..

Bonobos and chimpanzees are very similar and both share 98.7% of their DNA with humans, making the two species our closest relatives. Bonobos are generally smaller, leaner, and darker in color than chimpanzees. Their society is also different: groups of bonobos tend to be more peaceful and led by women. They also maintain relationships and resolve conflicts through sex. However, the life of bonobos is not entirely free from violence; when two groups of bonobos meet, they can fight seriously.

Wild bonobos are only found in the forests south of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Also known as the pygmy chimpanzee, bonobos were not recognized as a separate species until 1929. As the last great ape to be scientifically described, much is still unknown about the bonobo, including the extent of its geographic range. Attempts to research the species over the past two decades have been hampered by the remoteness of its habitat, its patchy distribution, and years of civil unrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Civil unrest and poverty in the bonobo region have contributed to poaching and deforestation. Although the size of the bonobo population is largely unknown, it has likely declined over the past 30 years. Scientists believe the decline will continue for the next 45 to 55 years due to the bonobo’s low reproductive rate and increasing threats.

It will be an exciting adventure in a place where very few tourists have ever been to come face to face with these wonderful animals. You will also have the chance to experience Congolese culture and explore Kinshasa. Know that traveling to Congo requires patience and flexibility. We also recommend that you allow an extra day or two in case of delays!

In the village you should not rely on electricity and running water, so be sure to bring enough batteries. Always expect the unexpected: heavy rain showers, power black outs in Kinshasa; traffic jams… Be patient and don’t forget your flexibility and a dose of humor! We do our best to make everything go as smoothly as possible.

This program is based on a group of up to six people. With the fastest boat we are in the first village the same day. If there are more of you, we need a bigger boat (up to 10 people), it takes a day and a half. This means you need to add two extra days to the schedule below. Please, add up to two buffer days in Kinshasa as a back up (in case of hold ups) and make sure you have enough time to take a PCR-test if needed. 

Watch one of our videos from our last trip. Can you count all of the bonobos??

Day 1: Arrival in Kinshasa

We will pick you up at the airport and drive you to your hotel.

Day 2: Lola ya bonobo

We will visit a small bonobo reserve just outside of Kinshasa, which was established to help rehabilitate bonobos who were injured, or whose parents were poached, and eventually returned to the forest. We receive an explanation, then take a nice walk in the area and see our first bonobos. (breakfast included)

Day 3: Ascent of the Congo River

We take the boat north of Kinshasa and take a trip of about six to eight hours on the Congo River. Depending on how quickly everything goes, we either stay at the village by the river or at our final destination in the forest. (breakfast included)

Day 4 and 5: In search of bonobos

We’ll spend two mornings looking for bonobos in the forest. In the afternoon we can explore the villages as well as some local projects. (breakfast included)

Day 6: Exploration of the forest

We stay an extra day in the village to discover the surrounding nature and the daily life of the villagers.

Day 7: Return to Kinshasa

We leave around 5 am to arrive in the afternoon, then change transport and continue to Kinshasa. (breakfast included)

Day 8: Visit of Kinshasa

Today we will explore the capital of Congo. We visit the rapids, the Academy of Fine Arts, the cathedral and we also walk from the Mausoleum to the Central Station. In the afternoon, you can enjoy a local meal. (breakfast included)

Day 9: Return flight

We will take you to the airport and ensure that you are checked in safely.

Included: – Accommodation – All activities and entrance fees according to the program – Professional guide – Transportation

Not included: – Meal – PCR testing – Airport tax – Drinks

Traveling to Congo and its neighboring country is very expensive due to poor infrastructure. Several of our trips only become affordable from 3 to 4 people. We also offer group visits for several formulas. You can also request a group visit yourself, please contact us. Our prices are based on current circumstances, but these are subject to change and are primarily target prices. All prices are based on a shared room. If you want a single room, there will be an additional charge. Please note that apart from the lodges of Garamba and Virunga (with single beds) and Zongo, it is not allowed to share a room with a person of the same sex in Congo. We are of course sorry for this and do not agree with this, but have no influence on this. We are not responsible for the consequences if our customers do not comply.

Check out our group trips to Congo to see if this trip (or a similar trip) is also listed as a group trip with a fixed departure.

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Why Bonobos Are Endangered and What We Can Do

The chimpanzee's gentler cousin faces unprecedented threats from illegal hunting

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Although these endangered great apes look quite similar to chimpanzees , bonobos tend to be leaner in stature and darker in color—standing between 28 to 35 inches tall. They also form smaller groups and are led by matriarchs rather than alpha males, creating cooperative communities known for emotional bonding and neutral dispositions.

Unfortunately, bonobos are very much in trouble. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the bonobo went from Vulnerable to Endangered in 1994 and has remained there ever since.

The surviving global population of between 10,000 and 50,000 individuals is scattered throughout forests south of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Bonobo numbers are decreasing and illegal hunting remains the primary obstacle to species conservation.

Other factors like habitat destruction, disease, and civil unrest in regions with higher densities of bonobo groups also contribute to population reduction trends, which the IUCN estimates will continue for the next 60 years if nothing changes.  

Because of their more peaceful nature, poachers have targeted bonobos for generations—not just in the illegal bushmeat trade but also for use as pets and in traditional medicines.

Because of their scattered communities and remote range, it’s difficult to assess precisely how many individual bonobos are killed each year. Still, the IUCN estimates that nine tons of bushmeat are extracted from each 50,000 square kilometers conservation landscape within the bonobo’s range each day.

Civil Unrest

Apart from the fact that they were the last of the great apes to be scientifically described (not being recognized as a species separate from chimps until 1929), the bonobo resides exclusively in a part of the world known for unrest and increasing poverty. Paired also with the remote characteristics of the bonobo’s habitat, efforts to study and survey the species have been hampered as a result.

Low pay and little supervision among government soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo create additional barriers for wildlife laws and conservation management while facilitating illegal guns and ammunition flow to poachers.

Habitat Destruction and Degradation

Another result of civil unrest? There are very few protected areas for bonobos to live and repopulate undisturbed from deforestation and fragmentation.

Political instability makes establishing conservation areas more difficult than throughout other parts of Africa, but much of the forest loss in bonobo habitats can also be attributed to agriculture conversion and urban development (from 2001 to 2021, the Democratic Republic of the Congo lost a whopping 8.6% of its total tree cover, according to Global Forest Watch).

Infectious diseases, including human-borne and natural pathogens, have been observed among bonobos—sometimes affecting entire subpopulations. Especially in places where habitat coincides with higher human density, diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, and parasites spread rapidly.

Like chimpanzees, the bonobo reproduction cycle is slow (despite the species’ reputation for using sex as a social tool), and mature females only give birth to a single infant every five to six years after an eight-month gestation period. As a result, bouncing back from a significant population loss is incredibly challenging in the wild.  

What We Can Do

Martin Harvey / Getty Images

Along with chimps, bonobos share most of their DNA with humans—as much as 1.6% of the human genome is more closely related to the bonobo than to the chimpanzee. Studies even suggest that the species has evolved with the impulse to be kind to strangers—with some going out of their way to help a stranger get food without the promise of immediate payback.

If bonobos disappeared from one of their scarce habitats, it wouldn’t just mean an end to one of humankind’s closest relatives, but it could also lead to an extinction cycle affecting entire forests. In Salonga National Park, one of the few protected bonobo habitats and Africa’s largest tropical rainforest reserve, an estimated 40% of tree species (which makes up 65% of all trees) are dispersed by bonobos.

However, for every unknown about these important animals, there are individuals and organizations working to help protect them. For instance, partners of the Great Ape Conservation Fund have teamed up with Congolese authorities to establish new reserves and conduct research surveys of bonobo habitats in the region. These surveys help measure the urgency of conservation efforts and pinpoint exceptionally vulnerable populations. The fund also facilitates new initiatives to strengthen law enforcement against illegal hunting and supports information exchange programs.

Studies suggest that bonobos could also share the same benefits of sustainably managed ecotourism as their gorilla cousins (mountain gorillas are one of the most successful examples of how ecotourism can aid in conservation). In the remote areas where bonobos thrive, nurturing an ecotourism market could create economic incentives for local communities to protect the species and their habitats.  

Save the Bonobo

• Support nonprofit organizations that focus on bonobo and great ape conservation. The Bonobo Conservation Initiative offers several opportunities to take action, including donation and sponsorship.
• Learn more about sustainable forest management to protect rainforests in the Congo where bonobos live. 
• Raise awareness with resources for teachers and even learn how to organize your own fundraising event .

" Bonobo ." World Wildlife Fund .

Fruth, B., et al. " Bonobo ." International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species , 2016., doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T15932A17964305.en

" Democratic Republic of the Congo ." Global Forest Watch .

Medkour, Hacene, et al. " Potential Zoonotic Pathogens Hosted by Endangered Bonobos ." Scientific Reports , vol. 11, 2021, pp. 6331., doi:10.1038/s41598-021-85849-4

" Bonobo ." African Wildlife Foundation .

Prufer, Kay, et al. " The Bonobo Genome Compared with the Chimpanzee and Human Genomes ." Nature , vol. 486, 2012, pp. 527-531., doi:10.1038/nature11128

Tan, Jingzhi, et al. " Bonobos Respond Prosocially Toward Members of Other Groups ." Scientific Reports , vol. 7, 2017, pp. 14733., doi:10.1038/s41598-017-15320-w

Beaune, David. " What Would Happen to the Trees and Lianas if Apes Disappeared? " Oryx , vol. 49, no. 3, 2015, pp. 442-446., doi:10.1017/S0030605314000878

Narat, Victor, et al. " Bonobo Conservation as a Means for Local Development: An Innovative Local Initiative of Community-Based Conservation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ." Journal of Primatology , vol. 4, no. 2, 2015, 100127.

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Peace-loving bonobos are more aggressive than we thought

Scientists were surprised at just how often the males of the species lash out at each other. Some experts suggest females may play a crucial role in the conflicts.

Despite their species’ friendly reputation, bonobo males lash out at other males much more often than chimpanzee males do, a surprising study finds.

In her first week studying bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Maud Mouginot vividly remembers seeing “two balls of fur chasing each other like crazy in the trees.”

“It was five in the morning, and the bonobos had just woken up. The field assistants said ‘This is an aggression.’ And I was like, ‘Wait, where is the peaceful bonobo in this?’” says Mouginot, now an anthropologist at Boston University.

Bonobos’ harmonious portrayal is inspired in part by their frequent use of copulation to smooth over disagreements. Unlike chimpanzees , they are also willing to share food, not only with friends, but even with bonobos they don’t know.

Mouginot had already suspected that bonobos were more complex than the stereotype suggests. But when she started comparing the recorded number of aggressive behaviors on wild bonobos and chimpanzees across five different communities, she struggled to believe her results. (Watch bonobos on the National Geographic show Queens .)

“I was so confused that I looked at each aggression one by one to make sure I had no duplicates.”

As Mouginot and colleagues report in the journal   Current Biology   this week , it took 2,047 hours of tracking individual male bonobos in the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve to tally 521 instances of aggression, such as chasing each other around, hitting, kicking, and biting. In Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park , where chimpanzees have been studied for over 60 years ( supported in part by the National Geographic Society ) it took researchers over 7,300 hours to count 654 aggressive acts.

“I was surprised, but the data are strong,” says Richard Wrangham , a primatologist at Harvard University who wasn’t involved in the new study.

Thou shalt not kill

Wrangham has also long been intrigued by the stark differences in behavior between chimpanzees and bonobos.

“A plausible explanation might be that aggression among bonobo males is much less dangerous than in chimpanzees, so there are fewer reasons for it to be constrained.”

Mouginot agrees. “We have no reports yet of bonobos killing each other, while there are many from chimpanzees. Chimpanzee males form coalitions, so a male who acts out against another male might face coalitionary retaliation, which can be very dangerous.” (Read how chimpanzees killed and cannibalized their former leader in Senegal.)

“So I think the costs of aggression are more unpredictable and often higher for chimpanzees, which might explain why bonobos use it more easily in everyday life.”

Bonobos also have a very different approach to territorial defense, says study co-author Martin Surbeck , a primatologist at Harvard University and a National Geographic Explorer who has studied bonobos in the wild for 20 years.

“Bonobo home ranges seem much larger than those of chimpanzees, so they might not be able to defend them as territories like chimpanzees do. While coalitions of chimpanzee males do not hesitate to kill individuals from other groups, bonobos from different groups may peacefully hang out together and even groom and share food when they encounter each other.”

Help from mom

But why do bonobo males have such a short fuse? The research suggests it somehow them better access to females. In this study, at least, the more aggressive bonobo males fathered far more young than those that were less confrontational.

This is somewhat surprising, since unlike chimpanzee males, male bonobos would get into all sorts of trouble if they were hostile to females.

“Female bonobos are aggressive to males quite frequently. They can be really mean to them,” says Michael Wilson , a primatologist at the University of Minnesota who has worked in Gombe for decades. Bonobo females band together to dominate males, and they tend to choose their own partners.

On the other hand, “female chimpanzees are very submissive toward males, and very fearful of them,” For this reason, he adds, chimpanzee males can sometimes coerce females into mating.

Mouginot suspects female bonobos aren't attracted to aggression itself, but instead the high-ranking males who use force to repel competitors when females are ready to mate.   (Read how a bonobo was separated from her sister for 26 years, but she still remembered her years later.)

In fact, females may play an even more active role in the males’ success, says primatologist Takeshi Furuichi of Japan’s Kyoto University who has studied bonobos in the wild for many years.

“Male bonobos with high-ranking mothers often challenge other males with support from their mothers, who can increase their number of grandchildren in this way,” Furuichi says.

“ In a recent study of our own, most aggressive interactions occurred between the sons of high-ranking mothers.”

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Fox Theater

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Another Planet Entertainment is committed to producing safe events. Please review our most up-to-date COVID-19 policy requirements for entry on our  Health & Safety  page.

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For an additional $60.00, you can opt in to upgrade your experience to include access to the exclusive Telegraph Room before, during and after the show! Please note all Telegraph Room upgrades are subject to availability.

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Bonobo at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on October 20 will be moving to the Fox Theater in Oakland on the same date.

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We thank you for understanding and look forward to seeing you at the show!

Fragments is the most emotionally intense record that Bonobo – aka Simon Green – has ever had to make. It’s no surprise that it’s also his masterpiece. The album features Jamila Woods, Joji, Kadhja Bonet, Jordan Rakei, O’Flynn and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. Born first out of fragments of ideas and experimentation, the album ultimately was fused together in a burst of creativity fueled by both collaboration and Green’s escape into the wild.

Full of tension and release on both an intimate and an elemental scale, Fragments is truly a record for our times. But there were times when it felt it would never happen.  Where previously Green had always written on the move, this time he had to fight to get it out, in isolation, as the world changed around him.  He started to pull back into himself – and for the first time, crucially, he wasn’t writing new music as he travelled. He was also wrestling with feelings he found hard to express. But slowly, he found inspiration as he sought refuge in the great expanses of wild nature outside his adopted home of Los Angeles.  “Finding the places that were alien and unique and awe inspiring,” he says, even if that meant escaping on a solo voyage to Death Valley on what would turn out to be the hottest day in its history.  His dive into modular synthesis, and collaboration with a wide array of artists brought the album into much sharper focus, notably Jamila Woods’ contribution to “Tides,” which quickly became the album’s centerpiece.

So Fragments is the sound of both struggle and isolation – personally and collectively – and of a surging, joyous return: a gorgeous reminder of how out of struggle and disillusionment, creativity and hope can emerge at the most unexpected moments.

One of the biggest names in dance music, Green’s career includes 3 Grammy nominations and playing to 2 million people for the tour supporting his 2017 album Migration . Migration also reached #1 on Billboard’s Dance album chart and hit Top Ten positions in several countries. He is also a favorite mainstage performer at the world’s greatest music festivals and has worked with Erykah Badu, Ólafur Arnalds and Jon Hopkins, and remixed artists including Michael Kiwanuka, Gorillaz, George Fitzgerald and London Grammar.

A person who is always traveling or visiting a place for pleasure. That’s how William Phillips’ name defines his adventures as a musician. “It allows me to write whatever I want. My writing takes me to lots of places: electronica, garage, piano. I want to write anything, and the name Tourist lets me do that.” Growing up with three sisters meant the young producer had to find his own entertainment as a child. He found his kicks in music, and more specifically the piano. “Those were my earliest musical memories” begins William, who is still in his early twenties, “I played the piano for a long time. I tried to have lessons, but I couldn’t stand the thought of some old fart talking me through D major scale”.

The internet arrived, home computers became MS-DOS beacons of endless opportunity and William started experimenting with music software. The combination of a fascination for piano and an affinity for technology soon saw him discover dance music, and with it came Pete Tong’s Radio 1 show, Ministry of Sound’s ‘The Annual’ compilations, and the acquisition of a midi keyboard. “I was an 11 year old listening to dance music. I couldn’t go and experience it, but I loved it through a child’s eyes. As a result, I still have a naive view of the communal culture of dance music. Even now, I see it as something I listen to in my bedroom.”

This inverted relationship with dance was evident on the early Tourist EPs. They championed an introspective and solitary brand of electronic music, full of melodic emotion and affected vocals. Placid Acid EP oozed glittering electronica; Tonight EP combined woozy r&b with shadowy 2-step, but both had one thing in common: they had next to no intentions for the dance floor. There was no pounding kick drum, no build and drop, build and drop. “That’s the thing” explains William, “I write dance music for people who don’t dance. I love kick drums, I love snares, I love synthesisers, but I’m not very good at writing big bangers.” This very personal sound didn’t stop Tourist from permeating a wider audience, and tracks like ‘Placid Acid’ racked up almost half million listens across Soundcloud and Youtube.

Fast forward to his most recent release – Patterns EP – and there are some exciting changes in the Tourist sound. The dance floor is now in the cross hairs, and a few of the tracks are destined to detonate square upon it. “In the last year I’ve played a lot of live shows. I’ve been to a lot of clubs. I’ve played boiler room. This isn’t straight up underground house music, but it’s certainly made me more direct. It’s one of the most honest EPs I’ve written and I’m proud of it.” ‘Together’ – an emotive deep house track with pitch-shifted vocals and whispers of electro – pays testament to this approach. But that isn’t the only change. Within Tourist there has always lurked the potential for a massive pop track, and in choosing to work with vocalists on this EP, he’s birthed two potential hits. Lead track ‘Patterns’ opens with hints of italo and disco, as Lianne La Havas croons gently, before the current changes; with it comes clapping percussion and gospel backing vocals that eventually snowball into a huge, uplifting crescendo. Similarly, ‘I Can’t Keep Up’ is a stripped back club-pop track, with soaring vocals from Will Heard. “I view the process of choosing vocalists the same as I would a synth. I choose their voices not their names. It’s cheap to attach yourself to someone successful. That said, Lianne is very successful!”

Deep house and club-pop aside, behind this polished and digitally produced sound, still lurks a true musical soul, that boy who played the piano. Throughout past EPs, William has had a keen interest in organic field recordings, and everyday sounds from his house are manipulated into rhythmic elements to provide the drums for ‘I Can’t Keep Up’. And his musical contributions often stretch further than Tourist with long time writing partner Jimmy Napes. Napes wrote UK top 20 hit ‘Latch’ for Disclosure and Sam Smith, and Tourist worked with him in writing another track for Smith’s forthcoming album.

The artwork for Patterns EP may be the least important thing to most avid listeners, but for Williams visuals play an important role. The image of bedsheets plays on a concept, “there are a lot of stories in bedsheets. You see patterns in bedsheets and it reveals a lot about the person.” This fascination with visual stimulation doesn’t stop there, and he intends for the live experience to be a feast for the eyes. “When you can spend a few quid on a show, you can start to make some really enamoring art. My live show is not about me. Visuals are as important as the sonics. We see as well as hear. The things we look at as we hear it, changes how we hear it. It’s so important to respect visuals and artwork and videos. I want to create a world for people.”

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No ‘Hippie Ape’: Bonobos Are Often Aggressive, Study Finds

Despite their peaceful reputation, bonobos act aggressively more often than their chimpanzee cousins, a new study found.

By Carl Zimmer

In the early 1900s, primatologists noticed a group of apes in central Africa with a distinctly slender build; they called them “pygmy chimpanzees.” But as the years passed, it became clear that those animals, now known as bonobos, were profoundly different from chimpanzees.

Chimpanzee societies are dominated by males that kill other males, raid the territory of neighboring troops and defend their own ground with border patrols. Male chimpanzees also attack females to coerce them into mating, and sometimes even kill infants. Among bonobos, in contrast, females are dominant. Males do not go on patrols, form alliances or kill other bonobos. And bonobos usually resolve their disputes with sex — lots of it.

Bonobos became famous for showing that nature didn’t always have to be red in tooth and claw. “Bonobos are an icon for peace and love, the world’s ‘hippie chimps,’” Sally Coxe, a conservationist, said in 2006 .

But these sweeping claims were not based on much data. Because bonobos live in remote, swampy rainforests, it has been much more difficult to observe them in the wild than chimpanzees. More recent research has shown that bonobos live a more aggressive life than their reputation would suggest.

In a study based on thousands of hours of observations in the wild published on Friday, for example, researchers found that male bonobos commit acts of aggression nearly three times as often as male chimpanzees do.

“There is no ‘hippie ape,’” said Maud Mouginot, a biological anthropologist at Boston University who led the analysis.

As our closest living relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees can offer us clues about the roots of human behavior. We and the two species share a common ancestor that lived about 7 million years ago. About 5 million years later, bonobos split off from chimpanzees.

In 2012, a trio of Harvard researchers proposed that bonobos evolved much like dogs did. Less aggressive wolves were not as likely to be killed by humans, which over time led to the emergence of dogs. In a similar fashion, the researchers argued, female bonobos preferred to mate with less aggressive males, giving birth to less aggressive offspring.

The researchers called their idea the self-domestication hypothesis. In later years, they speculated that humans may have undergone a self-domestication of their own.

Dr. Mouginot found the hypothesis intriguing, and decided to test it by tracking individual male chimpanzees and bonobos over several years.

In 2018, she traveled to Tanzania to observe chimpanzees. She would follow an individual male all day long, noting when it committed aggression — a push, a bite, a chase — against another male.

The next year she went to the Democratic Republic of Congo to watch bonobos; she used binoculars to follow them as they raced around in the forest canopy. “Most of the time, I’m seeing their butts,” she said.

Dr. Mouginot soon became perplexed, as she saw that male bonobos acted aggressively on a regular basis. Unlike male chimpanzees, who started their days in a mellow mood, the male bonobos seemed to wake up ready for a fight.

“I thought, where is the peaceful bonobo?” Dr. Mouginot said.

She and her colleagues trained field assistants, who made more observations throughout the pandemic. The new analysis, based on 9,300 hours of observations on 12 male bonobos and 14 male chimpanzees, found that bonobos committed aggressive acts 2.8 times as frequently as than the chimpanzees did.

“Those numbers are really big — I thought I messed something up,” Dr. Mouginot said. But she hadn’t.

Dr. Mouginot found that the frequent bonobo aggressions almost always involved a single male attacking another male. Chimpanzees, in contrast, often ganged up to attack a victim.

Brian Hare, an anthropologist at Duke University and one of the authors of the self-domestication hypothesis, said that the study set a new standard for comparing aggression in bonobos and chimpanzees.

“It’s absolutely worth its weight in gold,” he said.

Dr. Mouginot speculated that male chimpanzees engage in one-on-one aggression less often because it poses bigger dangers: A victim of aggression may not want to go on a border patrol with the perpetrator, for example. Or he may bring back some of his own allies to wreak vengeance.

It may be easier for male bonobos to get away with aggression, Dr. Mouginot said, because in their female-dominated society they don’t face the risks that come with male alliances. “I think that’s why we see more aggression in bonobos — because it’s less risky to act aggressively against other males,” Dr. Mouginot said.

In fact, male bonobos may benefit from attacking other males. Dr. Mouginot and her colleagues found that the apes that carried out the most aggressive acts were also the ones who mated most often.

Dr. Hare acknowledged that the study’s results mean that parts of the self-domestication hypothesis “clearly need refinement.” It may be important to consider the effect that different kinds of aggression have on a species, rather than lumping them altogether, he said.

Still, he argued that the differences between the two species remained significant. “Chimpanzees murder, and bonobos don’t,” he said.

Carl Zimmer covers news about science for The Times and writes the Origins column . More about Carl Zimmer

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Study Alters Bonobos’ Reputation as the ‘Make Love not War’ Ape

Although both bonobos and chimps both act aggressively to gain a mate, they each take a different approach to violence..

Bonobos have a reputation as lovers, not fighters. But the primate species — perhaps infamous for using sex as a conflict resolution tool — exhibits more complex behavior around mating than previously thought.

Male bonobos actually act more aggressively than male chimpanzees, but the way the two species uses violence or the threat of it differs dramatically, according to a new study in Current Biology .

“This study brings more complexity to the simple image of bonobo as the ‘make love not war’ ape,” says Maud Mouginot , a Boston University postdoc who conducted the observations as part of her Ph.D. research.

Bonobo and Chimpanzee Aggression

Mouginot's fieldwork observations revealed that male bonobos exhibited aggressive behavior almost exclusively toward males, while chimpanzees more often reserved their violence for females. And when chimp violence did occur among males, it often involved coalitions.

Hostility between male bonobos was much more likely to be one on one, and male on male. However, unlike chimps, the bonobos didn’t coerce sex from females, nor did they kill any female bonobo or baby bonobo.

Read More: Bonobos Act Like Babies After Fights

Observing Bonobo and Chimp Behavior

Before Mouginot set out to Africa to observe the primates, she expected to see some bonobo aggression. “Bonobos have this reputation to be peaceful, but I always thought that this was too simplistic,” she says.

But the amount of aggression surprised her. She observed 12 bonobos in the Congo’s Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve and two chimpanzee communities in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park. She tracked her subjects all day and recorded their behavior. When she tallied the totals, she initially thought she was wrong. Her data showed that bonobos engaged in 2.8 times more aggressive interactions and 3 times as many physical aggressions.

“I had some expectation that we would observe SOME aggressions by bonobos,” Mouginot says. “But I was surprised to see so many instances.

Because her observations partially contradict a prevailing hypothesis that aggression has been selected against in bonobos and humans but not chimpanzees, she redid her data tables over and over. She also re-examined every aggression incident.

“The reality is that when I found these results, I initially thought I did something wrong,” Mouginot says.

Read More: Why Are Chimpanzees and Gorillas Suddenly Going to War?

Social Structures Could Impact Primate Aggression

Mouginot thinks the social patterns that vary between bonobos and chimps may at least partially explain the differences. First, bonobo society tends to be more matriarchal. Second, they use coalitions differently. A male chimp may be less likely to attack another, because other males might gang up against him.

Bonobos have complex behaviors that depend on a lot of factors including their environment and their social organization.

“Even though they might use copulation as a form of conflict resolution, that does not mean aggression does not exist and does not provide some form of benefits,” says Mouginot.

The bottom line, though, is that both bonobos and chimpanzees use aggression when mating — meaning nice primates finish last.

Read More: What Are the Smartest Primates?

Article Sources

Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:

Current Biology . Differences in expression of male aggression between wild bonobos and chimpanzees.

Maud Mouginot . Boston University postdoc

• animal behavior
• anthropology

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Study Upends Our Thinking on Bonobos

B onobos have long been thought of as "hippie chimps" in conservation circles because of their supposedly peaceful nature, notes the New York Times . A comprehensive new study, however, appears to have ended that.

・ The stats: Researchers found that male bonobos were nearly three times as likely as chimpanzees to engage in an act of aggression, reports the Guardian . They logged 521 aggressive acts (hitting, pulling, biting, kicking, etc.) over 2,047 hours of tracking in the Democratic Republic of Congo, compared to 654 aggressive acts over 7,309 hours for chimps. (Bonobos are tougher to track in the wild.)

・ A surprise: "There is no 'hippie ape,'" says Maud Mouginot, a biological anthropologist at Boston University who led the study published in Current Biology 00253-7) , tells the Times . Mouginot says she was taken aback by the aggression, which sometimes started first thing in the morning. "I was like, 'Wait, where is the peaceful bonobo in this?'" she says, per National Geographic .

・ Key differences: New Scientist points out some differences: Male chimps tend to gang up when getting violent, and they direct their aggression toward both males and females. Male bonobos, which roam over larger territories, tend to get violent one-on-one with other males and rarely with females. Nor was there any record of bonobos killing each other, as there are with chimps.

・ A basic motivator: What's behind the bonobo aggression? "The research suggests it somehow (gets) them better access to females," per National Geographic . More aggressive bonobos tended to have more offspring, the researchers found. One trait the study didn't dispute is that bonobos tend to have a lot of sex, as the Times puts it. In general, male bonobos are submissive to females, and the opposite is true among chimps.

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This article originally appeared on Newser: Study Upends Our Thinking on Bonobos

• Jul 28, 2021

Bonobos and Chimps: The Story of the Great Divide

Once upon a time....

Or, rather, approximately 1-2 million years ago, the ancestors of modern bonobos and chimpanzees were a single species that lived in the rainforests of the Congo. This ancestral group is thought to have inhabited the areas north of the Congo River, barred from moving south by the wide and treacherous river itself, known to be the deepest river in the world.

Around that same time, sediment analyses show the flow of the river dropped significantly. The waters of the Congo receded from the banks on either side for a short moment in geological time, making the river shallower and less formidable.

It might have been shallow enough to inspire a bold and curious group of ancestral apes to attempt a crossing.

Shortly after the hypothesized river crossing of bonobo ancestors, the banks of the Congo once again flooded with water, separating the intrepid group of apes from their relatives north of the river forever after.

North of the river, competition for resources made life hard. The ancestors of chimpanzees had to compete with other troops of their own kind as well as ancestral gorillas for both food and territory. As a result, they evolved a tougher disposition so as to be able to defend themselves when thieves and invaders threatened their land and their group members.

Fighting for Survival

Because violence and fighting skills improved their chances at survival , chimpanzees were evolutionarily selected for aggressive tendencies. In plain terms, this means the tough chimps survived long enough to reproduce and pass on their tough-guy traits to their offspring. Today, members of modern chimpanzee species have been observed attacking group members, raping females, killing infants, and murdering other adult chimpanzees.

Tra la la - Life is Good

By comparison, south of the river, the migrant apes had it good. There were no ancestral gorillas, and few other species to compete with. Food was plentiful , and uninhabited territory stretched on and on.

Because of this, these apes had no particular use for aggression. They began to share . Instead of violence being a key skill for survival, over time friendship and cooperation became the most coveted traits.

Females with the most friends had the best chances of survival, because they could band together to ensure that the bigger males couldn’t bully them. By leaning on their expanded social networks, females began to have the upper hand. Eventually they became the dominant sex.

By leaning on their expanded social networks, females began to have the upper hand.

With plenty of food and no reason for conflict, the migrant apes thrived in their new territory. Over time, their body shape became more slender and less stocky than their chimp cousins'. They learned to cooperate with each other and to be tolerant of strangers. And, amazingly, their neurobiology -- the form and functions of their brains and their chemical make-up -- began to change as well.

Today, when faced with social conflicts, chimpanzees begin to produce extra testosterone, causing their hackles to raise and their bodies to tense. This chemical triggers an aggressive response that releases tension and restores testosterone levels to equilibrium.

Why Bonobos are Called the "Make Love, Not War" Ape

Bonobos respond to conflict in a completely different way . When faced with moments of social tension, bonobos produce not testosterone, but cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone. They don’t become aggressive, but anxious.

To relieve their discomfort, they resort to sociosexual behavior. Instead of attacking, they hug and kiss group mates, or engage in brief sexual encounters. These encounters occur across all ages and genders.

Bonobos: Only in the DR Congo

Bonobos today are still only found in a tiny part of the world, south of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They still don’t encounter chimpanzee or gorilla competitors, but now they have a far more dangerous ape adversary: humans.

Bonobos are under constant threat from human poaching and deforestation, which is shrinking their rainforest home further and further with each passing year.

Today, bonobos have a far more dangerous ape adversary: humans.

In the DR Congo, chimpanzees are still found north of the Congo River, neither species seeming to want to attempt another crossing. Chimpanzees tend to avoid the water entirely , while bonobos will wade in about waist deep for foraging purposes , but refuse to go further than that. Neither chimpanzees nor bonobos appear able to swim, and the species remain separate.

What does this story tell us? Extra food can change history, and a little tolerance can mean the difference between a peaceful society and a violent one. So next time you encounter an adversary, channel your ancestral bonobo , not your inner chimp.

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