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Bonobos biography, Bonobos discography
Although the name "chimpanzee" is sometimes used to refer to both species together, it is usually understood as referring to the Common Chimpanzee.Along with common chimpanzees, Bonobos are Humans' closest living relatives.German anatomist Ernst Schwarz is credited with having discovered the Bonobo in 1928, based on his analysis of a skull in the Tervuren museum in Belgium that had been thought to have belonged to a juvenile chimpanzee.Common name
The name Bonobo first appeared in 1954, when Edward Tratz and Heinz Heck proposed it as a new and separate generic term for pygmy chimpanzees.Another suggestion is that the name is a misspelling of the name of the town of Bolobo on the Congo River, which has been associated with the collection of chimps in the 1920s.But there is still controversy.In either case, a name change of the genus is problematic because it complicates the taxonomy of other species closely related to humans, including Australopithecus.Recent DNA evidence suggests the Bonobo and Common Chimpanzee species effectively separated from each other less than one million years ago.Because no species other than Homo sapiens has survived from the human line of that branching, both Pan species are the closest living relatives of humans, and cladistically exactly equally close to humans.Its head is smaller than that of the Common Chimpanzee with less prominent eyebrow ridges.Females have slightly more prominent breasts in contrast to the flat breasts of other female apes, though not as prominent as those of humans.Common Chimpanzee (see: bipedal Bonobos).Recent observations in the wild indicate that the males among the Common Chimpanzee communities are extraordinarily hostile to males from outside of the community.Parties of males 'patrol' for the unfortunate neighbouring males who might be traveling alone, and attack those single males, often killing them.It has been hypothesized that Bonobos are able to live a more peaceful lifestyle in part because of an abundance of nutritious vegetation in their natural habitat, allowing them to travel and forage in large parties.The popular image of the Bonobo as a "peaceful ape" has come under fire.Accounts exist of Bonobos in zoos mutilating one another and engaging in bullying.Bonobo society is dominated by females, and severing the lifelong alliance between mothers and their male offspring may make them vulnerable to female aggression.De Waal has warned of the danger of romanticizing Bonobos: "All animals are competitive by nature and cooperative only under specific circumstances" as well as writing that "When first writing about their behavior, I spoke of 'sex for peace' precisely because bonobos had plenty of conflicts.In marked contrast to the Common Chimpanzee there are no confirmed reports of lethal aggression between Bonobos, either in the wild or in captivity.The immature state of Bonobo research in the wild compared to that of the Common Chimpanzee, however, means that lethal aggression may yet be discovered.Bonobos do not form permanent relationships with individual partners.They also do not seem to discriminate in their sexual behavior by gender or age, with the possible exception of sexual intercourse between mothers and their adult sons; some observers believe these pairings are taboo.When Bonobos come upon a new food source or feeding ground, the increased excitement will usually lead to communal sexual activity, presumably decreasing tension and allowing for peaceful feeding.Frot may also occur where two males rub their penises together while in missionary position.Bonobos are individually stronger, they cannot stand alone against a united group of females.Sexual bonding with other females establishes the new females as members of the group.Bonobo reproductive rates are not any higher than that of the Common Chimpanzee.Female Bonobos carry and nurse their young for five years and can give birth every five to six years.Compared with Common Chimpanzees, Bonobo females resume the genital swelling cycle much sooner after giving birth, allowing them to rejoin the sexual activities of their society.Craig Stanford, an American primatologist, has challenged the claim that Bonobos are more sexually active than Common Chimpanzees.De Waal's book on Bonobos includes interviews with field workers and relies on the studies by Takayoshi Kano, the only scientist to have worked for two decades with wild Bonobos.New studies in Africa by Gottfried Hohmann, a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology of Leipzig, Germany, believes to have seen significant violence, but fact remains that there are thus far no documented cases of lethal aggression among Bonobos, in sharp contrast to the evidence for Common Chimpanzees.Strong female bonding allows groups of female Bonobos to dominate the community.Aggressive encounters between males and females are rare, and males are tolerant of infants and juveniles.They sleep on trees in nests they construct.Unlike Common Chimpanzees, who are known to hunt monkeys, Bonobos are primarily frugivores, although they do eat insects and have been observed occasionally catching small mammals such as squirrels and duikers.They communicate through primarily vocal means, although the meanings of their vocalizations are not currently known.Two Bonobos at the Great Ape Trust, Kanzi and Panbanisha, have been taught a vocabulary of over 3,000 words which they can type using a special keyboard of lexigrams (geometric symbols), and they can respond to spoken sentences.Some, such as philosopher and bioethicist Peter Singer, argue that these results qualify them for the "rights to survival and life," rights that humans theoretically accord to all persons.They are an endangered species, due to both habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat, the latter activity having increased dramatically during the current civil war due to the presence of heavily armed militias even in remote "protected" areas such as Salonga National Park.Today, at most several thousand Bonobos remain.Conservation efforts
Since the 1990s, war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has had a major impact on both the Bonobo and human population.The people of the DRC now, more than ever, have a desire to protect their interests.Bonobos are in danger of being hunted to extinction.As the Bonobo's habitat is shared with people, the ultimate success of conservation efforts will rely on local and community involvement.Cuvette Centrale, the Bonobo's range.In contrast to this, there are areas where the Bonobo and biodiversity still thrive without any established parks, due to the indigenous beliefs and taboos against killing Bonobos.NGOs) were driven out of the Bonobo habitat.In 2002, the Bonobo Conservation Initiative initiated the Bonobo Peace Forest Project in cooperation with national institutions, local NGOs and local communities.This initiative has been gaining momentum and greater international recognition and has recently gained greater support through Conservation International, the Global Conservation Fund, United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Great Ape Conservation Fund, and the United Nations' Great Apes Survival Project.In 1995, concern over declining numbers of bonobos in the wild led the Zoological Society of Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wis.The plan identifies priority actions for bonobo conservation and serves as a reference for developing conservation programs for researchers, government officials and donor agencies.Salonga National Park to determine the conservation status of the bonobo within the park and to provide financial and technical assistance to strengthen park protection.As the project has developed, the Zoological Socity has become more involved in helping the Congolese living in bonobo habitat.The Zoological Society has built schools, hired teachers, provided some medicines, and, as of 2007, started an agriculture project to help the Congolese learn to grow crops and depend less on hunting wild animals.As of as of 2007, the ZSM started an agriculture project to help the Congolese learn to grow crops and depend less on hunting wild animals.This significant investment has triggered the involvement of international NGOs to establish bases in the region and work to develop Bonobo conservation programs.The Sankuru reserve also contains okapi, closely related to the giraffe, that is also native to Congo, elephants and at least 10 other primate species.In addition, concerned parties have addressed the crisis on several science and ecological websites.Some have suggested that a reserve be established in a less unstable part of Africa, or on an island in a place like Indonesia.Bonobos with little risk or discomfort.Groves, Colin (16 November 2005).Listed as Endangered (EN A4cd v3.Kanzi: the ape at the brink of the human mind.Bonobo Sex and Society, by: de Waal, Frans B."The social behavior of chimpanzees and bonobos".The Last Ape: Pygmy Chimpanzee Behavior and Ecology.The Last Ape: Pygmy Chimpanzee Behavior and Ecology.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Wildlife Service Species Profile
"The Last Great Ape", an episode of Nova.This page was last modified on 26 February 2008, at 07:10.The next table cell holds the images.The next table cell holds the captions.Bonobos and chimps are our closest cousins among the apes.One sees the reassuring arm around the shoulder, hugging and kissing.The uncommon social structure, sexual behavior and intellectual capacity of
bonobos give us a unique glimpse of the roots of human nature.Visit the
portrait gallery of all the ape species.Old World Monkeys about 25 million years ago.Phi Beta Kappa book prize for science as literature.The common chimps range from the East African Rift Valley to westernmost Africa.Bonobos have no national park, nothing to protect them from
human hunting and encroachment except for the tropical diseases which limit
human habitation in the area.African apes from the bushmeat trade.Previous to the war in Zaire, reserves were being patrolled regularly in order
to protect existing bonobo populations from poaching.This leaves bonobos completely unprotected.Bonobos are also called pygmy
chimpanzees.The name pygmy chimp was bestowed by Westerners in the
1930's, not because the animals were diminutive in size, but because they lived
near human pygmies.It is important to understand that bonobos (Pan
paniscus) are not chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).While they
share the same genus, bonobos and chimps are markedly distinct species.The uncommon social structure, sexual
behavior and intellectual capacity of bonobos reveal compelling clues about the
roots of human nature.Bonobo anatomy is eerily similar to that of our
early human ancestors.Zoo Exhibits of Bonobos
Every zoo wants some bonobos but only a few have them
because they are relatively rare and endangered.The total number of bonobos at
zoos and research institutions is only about 141, worldwide (2002 numbers).In the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo, there are 29
bonobos living in a sanctuary or other facilities.There are 71 bonobos in zoos of the U.In comparison, other captive ape populations in United States zoos include 350
chimpanzees, 300 western lowland gorillas, and 250 orangutans.It is combined with an indoor space that
is both interesting to the bonobos and easily seen by the visitor from either
above or at floor level (access via the waterfall path).Calvin visit, 3 June 1995).E19 between
Brussels and Antwerp and take the road east.It ends in another highway
within a few km; turn left (north), direction Mechelen.Note the storks nesting in the chimneys.The bonobos are in
the Africa Project.Hours
Planckendael is open every day of the year at 0900.Milwaukee Zoo
Visited April 2005, excellent exhibit of 11 bonobos.Mars, bonobos are from Venus.The New York Times article
(April 1998) on bonobo language abilities.Frans de Waal
with photos by Frans Lanting,
Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape (University of California Press 1997).Bonobo may lie at the root of civilized behavior.Chimpanzee Politics: Sex and Power Among the Apes (Johns Hopkins
University Press 2000, revision of the 1982 first edition).BONOBOS (PAN PANISCUS) COMPARED TO THAT OF CHIMPANZEES.Edited by Paul Heltne and Linda A.THE LAST APE: PYGMY CHIMPANZEE BEHAVIOR AND ECOLOGY.And search a bookstore such as
Amazon.San Diego Zoo,
the
Columbus Zoo,
and the Bonobo Conservation
Initiative.Living
Links Center at Emory University and Iowa's
Great Apes Trust.Bonobos are humankind's closest relatives, along with chimpanzees, yet most people don't even know that bonobos exist!Bonobos were last great ape species to be discovered, and could be the first to go extinct if we do not act quickly to save them and their rainforest home.Bonobos stand apart from the other great apes in fascinating and important ways.But perhaps the most compelling aspect of bonobos is their society ...The Bonobo Conservation Initiative(BCI) is dedicated to ensuring the survival of the bonobo (Pan paniscus) and its tropical forest habitat in the Congo Basin.Bonobos inhabit the heart of the Congo Basin, the second largest rainforest on earth, of critical importance to the health of the planet."These are certainly among the best..."The clock is ticking for bonobos and their rainforest home.Congolese partners on the front lines of this vital work.Massive 11,000 square mile rainforest reserve established for bonobos and other rare species!That means your contribution will have twice the impact.Donations can be made online with a credit card, by check, by wire transfer, or by the donation of stock.Bicycles are urgently needed in the Bonobo Peace Forest, where the primary means of transport is by river, foot, or bicycle.Thanks to a generous donation from the "Spokes for Folks" Community Bicycle Project in Boulder, CO, BCI is receiving 400 bikes for Bonobo Peace Forest communities!We need help now to ship these bikes before Christmas!"Through friendship and cooperation between the citizens of Falls Church and Kokolopori, we can help build a more peaceful and just world and help preserve our planet's rainforests and wildlife," says Ingrid Schulze, who initiated this inspiring partnership.Learn more about BCI's research and conservation activities:
Bonobos survive the war at Lilungu.Spokes Community Bicycle Project is donating 450 mountain bikes to BCI.What Is The Bonobo Initiative?It is difficult to answer the question: "What is a Bonobo?"Biologically speaking, bonobos are the closest you can get to being human without being human.Bonobos look more like humans than other apes, and display many behavioral similarities as well.Bonobos and people share 98.Bonobos and their cousins the chimpanzees, are more closely related genetically to us than they are to gorillas!Bonobos are great apes, along with chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas.Because we share so many characteristics with these simian species, some scientists contend that humans should be classified as apes too.Indigenous people who have dwelled among bonobos in the Congo forest have many legends about how bonobos and man were brothers in the distant past.They tell stories about how bonobos showed people what foods to eat in the forest, how a bonobo saved a man who needed help, how bonobos themselves are trying to become human.These apes have fascinated indigenous people of Africa for hundreds, even thousands of years, yet to most of the world's population, they have been known to exist only for the span of one lifetime.Bonobos were not discovered by scientists until 1933, and even then, not alive, but in the Tervuren Museum in Belgium, identified by means of a skull.Although more research is needed to determine current populations, we do know that that their numbers have been decimated during the war.Different Breed of Ape
Bonobos stand apart from the other great apes in fascinating and important ways.Physically, their anatomy most closely resembles Australopithecus, our early human ancestor.Bonobos walk bipedally, on two feet, more easily and for longer periods of time than the other apes.Some bonobos in captivity have even learned to use human language!But perhaps the most compelling feature of bonobos is their society.Bonobos live in large groups where harmonious coexistence is the norm.However, bonobos share a human landscape, and our work with indigenous Congolese people is an important aspect of bonobo conservation.Learn about BCI's programs to protect bonobos."Make Love, Not War"
Bonobos seem to ascribe to the 1960s hippie credo, "make love, not war."They make a lot of love, and do so in every conceivable fashion.Beyond that, they are very loving too, showing care and compassion for each other in many ways.Sex in bonobo society transcends reproduction, as it does in humans.Bonobos have been described as "pansexual" by psychologist Frans de Waal.Sex permeates the fabric of bonobo society, weaving through all aspects of daily life.It serves an important function in keeping the society together, maintaining peaceful, cooperative relations.Likewise, almost any conflict between bonobos is eased by sexual activity, grooming, or sharing food.Like humans, bonobo females are sexually receptive throughout most of their estrus cycle.Consequently, chimp females do not have much control over who they mate with.Bonobo males tend to be a bit more polite.Sex does not necessarily mean the same thing to a bonobo that it does to a human.Scholars continue to study this unique phenomenon and debate its implications.Singin' in the Breeze
What's it like to come upon a group of bonobos in the forest?Bonobos spend a lot of time high in the rainforest canopy.These acrobatic apes move through the trees swiftly and gracefully, maneuvering through the forest to forage on fruit and other foods.When bonobos gather in the trees to make their night nests, they fill the twilight with a symphony of soprano squeals.Bonobos eat a variety of foods, including fruits, nuts, seeds, sprouts, vegetation, and mushrooms.They eat various parts of plants, including the leaves, flowers, bark, stems, pith, and roots.They also eat small mammals, insect larvae, earthworms, honey, eggs, and soil.Unlike chimpanzees who form hunting parties to capture monkeys, bonobos do not aggressively hunt mammals.On rare occasions, they have been observed to capture duikers (small antelope) or flying squirrels, but this seems to be circumstantial.Bonobos do forage for "mbindjos," or caterpillars, the larvae of various butterfly species.Mbindjos are also collected and eaten by local villagers who share the forest with bonobos.In fact, indigenous people of the Congo Basin and bonobos eat many of the same foods.This video has been added to your favorites.Thank you for flagging this video.Content of this nature is not necessarily prohibited on YouTube, however we will review this video and take action as appropriate.Thank you for sharing your concerns.Please refer to our Help Center for more information and the complete instructions.This is turning me on...Would you like to comment?The code changes based on your selection.Concorde is from a Boeing 747.Captive bonobos use tools skillfully.Bonobos are also imaginative in play.This idea may be partly true.Kako uttered a sharp peep and stayed put.Vernon was ready to share.Human society is the most diverse among the primates.PANISCUS) COMPARED TO THAT OF CHIMPANZEES.Nature's
raucous bestiary rarely serves up good role models for human behavior,
unless you happen to work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Before
bonobos can be fully appreciated, however, two human prejudices must be
overcome.Bonobos lubricate the gears of social harmony with sex, in all possible
permutations and combinations: males with females, males with males, females
with females, and even infants with adults.Bonobos use sex to appease, to bond, to make up after a fight, to ease
tensions, to cement alliances."Sex is there, it's pervasive,
it's critical, and bonobo society would collapse without it," he said in
an interview.It's not driven by
orgasm or seeking release.Sex for
a bonobo is casual, it's quick and once you're used to watching it, it
begins to look like any other social interaction."The new book, with photographs
by Frans Lanting, will be published in May by the University of California
Press.Bonobos are closely
related to chimpanzees, but they have a more graceful and slender build,
with smaller heads, slimmer necks, longer legs and less burly upper torsos.When standing or walking upright, bonobos have straighter backs than do
the chimpanzees, and so assume a more humanlike posture.As de Waal puts it in his book, "The chimpanzee resolves sexual issues
with power; the bonobo resolves power issues with sex."Or more coyly,
chimpanzees are from Mars, bonobos are from Venus.He points out that bonobos are as genetically close to humans as are chimpanzees,
and that both are astonishingly similar to mankind, sharing at least 98
percent of humans' DNA."Bonobos are just as close
to us as are chimpanzees, so we can't push them aside."One unusual aspect of bonobo society is
the ability of females to form strong alliances with other unrelated females.Among bonobos, females disperse at adolescence,
and have to insinuate themselves into a group of strangers.For example, the females usually
have priority when it comes to eating, and they will stick up for one another
should the bigger and more muscular male try to act aggressively.Female
alliances may have arisen to counter the threat of infanticide by males,
which is quite common in other species, including the chimpanzee, but has
never been observed among bonobos.De Waal said that many men grow indignant when they learn of the bonobo's
social structure.Yet de Waal
said the bonobo males might not have reason to rebel."They seem to be
in a perfectly good situation," he said.Originally published in the March 1995 issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN,
pp.The creature was discovered in 1929 in a Belgian colonial museum, far from
its lush African habitat.The bonobo was officially classified as Pan
paniscus, or the diminutive Pan.But I believe a different label might
have been selected had the discoverers known then what we know now.Bonobos engage in sex in virtually every partner combination (although
such contact among close family members may be suppressed).And sexual
interactions occur more often among bonobos than among other primates.So bonobos
share at least one very important characteristic with our own species,
namely, a partial separation between sex and reproduction.The split between the human line of ancestry and the
line of the chimpanzee and the bonobo is believed to have occurred a mere
eight million years ago.In contrast, bonobos probably never left the protection of the trees.Their
present range lies in humid forests south of the Zaire River, where perhaps
fewer than 10,000 bonobos survive.Given the species' slow rate of reproduction,
the rapid destruction of its tropical habitat and the political instability
of central Africa, there is reason for much concern about its future.Indeed, in the 1930s Harold J.Bonobo body proportions have been compared with
those of the australopithecines, a form of prehuman.When the apes stand
or walk upright, they look as if they stepped straight out of an artist's
impression of early hominids.Not too long ago the savanna baboon was regarded as the best living
model of the human ancestor.That primate is adapted to the kinds of ecological
conditions that prehumans may have faced after descending from the trees.Although selecting the chimpanzee as the touchstone of hominid evolution
represented a great improvement, at least one aspect of the former model
did not need to be revised: male superiority remained the natural state
of affairs.It is highly unusual
for a fully grown male chimpanzee to be dominated by any female.Adult males of the
smallest subspecies of chimpanzee weigh some 43 kilograms (95 pounds) and
females 33 kilograms (73 pounds), about the same as bonobos.Although female
bonobos are much smaller than the males, they seem to rule.In physique, a bonobo is as different from a chimpanzee as a Concorde
is from a Boeing 747.The bonobo, with its long legs and small head atop narrow
shoulders, has a more gracile build than does a chimpanzee.Bonobo lips
are reddish in a black face, the ears small and the nostrils almost as
wide as a gorilla's.Like chimpanzees, female bonobos nurse and carry around their young for
up to five years.Fruit is central to the diets of both wild bonobos and chimpanzees.Although bonobos do eat invertebrates and occasionally capture
and eat small vertebrates, including mammals, their diet seems to contain
relatively little animal protein.Captive
bonobos use tools skillfully.Apparently as intelligent as chimpanzees,
bonobos have, however, a far more sensitive temperament.During World War
II bombing of Hellabrun, Germany, the bonobos in a nearby zoo all died
of fright from the noise; the chimpanzees were unaffected.Bonobos are also imaginative in play.Thus handicapped, she
stumbles around on a climbing frame, bumping into others or almost falling.Other apes and monkeys also indulge in this game, but I have
never seen it performed with such dedication and concentration as by bonobos.Juvenile bonobos are incurably playful and like to make funny faces, sometimes
in long solitary pantomimes and at other times while tickling one another.They keep up these noisy performances for many
minutes, during which most other members of the group wisely stay out of
their way.Male bonobos, on the other hand, usually limit displays to a
brief run while dragging a few branches behind them.Both primates signal emotions and intentions through facial expressions
and hand gestures, many of which are also present in the nonverbal communication
of humans.For example, bonobos will beg by stretching out an open hand
(or, sometimes, a foot) to a possessor of food and will pout their lips
and make whimpering sounds if the effort is unsuccessful.But bonobos make
different sounds than chimpanzees do.My own interest in bonobos came not from an inherent fascination with
their charms but from research on aggressive behavior in primates.Assuming that such reunions serve to restore peace and harmony, I
labeled them reconciliations.Thinking how much faster marriages
would break up if people had no way of compensating for hurting each other,
I set out to investigate such mechanisms in several primates, including
bonobos.Although I expected to see peacemaking in these apes, too, I was
little prepared for the form it would take.Even before the food was thrown into the area, the bonobos would be inviting
each other for sex: males would invite females, and females would invite
males and other females.The
first suggestion that the sexual behavior of bonobos is different had come
from observations at European zoos.Wrapping their findings in Latin, primatologists
Eduard Tratz and Heinz Heck reported in 1954 that the chimpanzees at Hellabrun
mated more canum (like dogs) and bonobos more hominum (like people).These early studies, written in German, were ignored
by the international scientific establishment.The bonobo's humanlike sexuality
needed to be rediscovered in the 1970s before it became accepted as characteristic
of the species.Bonobos become sexually aroused remarkably easily, and they express
this excitement in a variety of mounting positions and genital contacts.The tumescent phase of the female's genitals, resulting in a pink swelling
that signals willingness to mate, covers a much longer part of estrus in
bonobos than in chimpanzees.GG rubbing) between adult
females.Male bonobos, too, may
engage in pseudocopulation but generally perform a variation.Lest
this leave the impression of a pathologically oversexed species, I must
add, based on hundreds of hours of watching bonobos, that their sexual
activity is rather casual and relaxed.It appears to be a completely natural
part of their group life.Like people, bonobos engage in sex only occasionally,
not continuously.Furthermore, with the average copulation lasting 13 seconds,
sexual contact in bonobos is rather quick by human standards.That sex is connected to feeding, and even appears to make food
sharing possible, has been observed not only in zoos but also in the wild.Handler, then at the State University of New York at Stony
Brook, saw bonobos in Zaire's Lomako Forest engage in sex after they had
entered trees loaded with ripe figs or when one among them had captured
a prey animal, such as a small forest duiker.Yet another motivation is probably the real
cause: competition.If two bonobos
approach a cardboard box thrown into their enclosure, they will briefly
mount each other before playing with the box.Such situations lead to squabbles
in most other species.But bonobos are quite tolerant, perhaps because
they use sex to divert attention and to diffuse tension.Next Leslie gnawed on one of his hands, presumably to loosen
his grasp.Kako uttered a sharp peep and stayed put.It seemed that Leslie had been very close to using force
but instead had reassured both herself and Kako with sexual contact.During reconciliations, bonobos use the same sexual repertoire as they
do during feeding time.Based on an analysis of many such incidents, my
study yielded the first solid evidence for sexual behavior as a mechanism
to overcome aggression.Given its peacemaking
and appeasement functions, it is not surprising that sex among bonobos
occurs in so many different partner combinations, including between juveniles
and adults.This use of sex becomes clear
when studying bonobos in the wild.In terms of continuity and invested
(wo)manpower, the chimpanzee projects of Jane Goodall and Toshisada Nishida,
both in Tanzania, are unparalleled.But bonobo research by Takayoshi Kano
and others of Kyoto University is now two decades under way at Wamba in
Zaire and is beginning to show the same payoffs.The apes move alone or in
small parties of a few individuals at a time, the composition of which
changes constantly.Several bonobos traveling together in the morning might
meet another group in the forest, whereupon one individual from the first
group wanders off with others from the second group, while those left behind
forage together.Initially this flexibility baffled investigators, making them wonder
if these apes formed any social groups with stable membership.After years
of documenting the travels of chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains, Nishida
first reported that they form large communities: all members of one community
mix freely in ever changing parties, but members of different communities
never gather.That
is, not only do communities not mix, but males of different chimpanzee
communities engage in lethal battles.In both bonobos and chimpanzees,
males stay in their natal group, whereas females tend to migrate during
adolescence.Females, on the other hand, transfer to an unfamiliar and
often hostile group where they may know no one.On arrival in another community, young bonobo females at Wamba single
out one or two senior resident females for special attention, using frequent
GG rubbing and grooming to establish a relation.If the residents reciprocate,
close associations are set up, and the younger female gradually becomes
accepted into the group.After producing her first offspring, the young
female's position becomes more stable and central.Bonobo males remain attached to their mothers all their lives, following
them through the forest and being dependent on them for protection in aggressive
encounters with other males.Males form
a distinct social hierarchy with high levels of both competition and association.Given the need to stick together against males of neighboring communities,
their bonding is not surprising: failure to form a united front might result
in the loss of lives and territory.The bonding among female bonobos
violates a fairly general rule, outlined by Harvard University anthropologist
Richard W.Wrangham, that the sex that stays in the natal group develops
the strongest mutual bonds.In setting up an artificial sisterhood,
bonobos can be said to be secondarily bonded.Kinship bonds are said to
be primary.WHY bonobos and chimpanzees
differ in this respect.But it is uncertain if such explanations will suffice.But in 1992, at the
14th Congress of the International Primatological Society in Strasbourg,
investigators of both captive and wild bonobos presented data that left
little doubt about the issue.Parish of the University of California
at Davis reported on food competition in identical groups (one adult male
and two adult females) of chimpanzees and bonobos at the Stuttgart Zoo.As soon as honey was made available,
the male chimpanzee would make a charging display through the enclosure
and claim everything for himself.After having engaged in some GG
rubbing, they would feed together, taking turns with virtually no competition
between them.Observers at
the Belgian animal park of Planckendael, which currently has the most naturalistic
bonobo colony, reported similar findings.Because females
appeared more successful in dominating males when they were together than
on their own, their close association and frequent genital rubbing may
represent an alliance.Females may bond so as to outcompete members of
the individually stronger sex.The fact that they manage to do so not only in captivity is evident
from zoologist Takeshi Furuichi's summary of the relation between the sexes
at Wamba, where bonobos are enticed out of the forest with sugarcane.Occasionally, the
role of sex in relation to food is taken one step further, bringing bonobos
very close to humans in their behavior.The human female's capacity to mate throughout her
cycle and her strong sex drive allow her to exchange sex for male commitment
and paternal care, thus giving rise to the nuclear family.Although bonobos clearly do not establish the exclusive heterosexual
bonds characteristic of our species, their behavior does fit important
elements of this model.When Loretta had
no genital swelling, she would wait until Vernon was ready to share.Despite such quid
pro quo between the sexes, there are no indications that bonobos form humanlike
nuclear families.If our ancestors started
out with a sex life similar to that of bonobos, the evolution of the family
would have required dramatic change.Human family life implies paternal
investment, which is unlikely to develop unless males can be reasonably
certain that they are caring for their own, not someone else's, offspring.Thus, although our species is characterized by an extraordinary interest
in sex, there are no societies in which people engage in it at the drop
of a hat (or a cardboard box, as the case may be).Yet no degree of moralizing can make sex disappear from every realm
of human life that does not relate to the nuclear family.Just imagine that
we had never heard of chimpanzees or baboons and had known bonobos first.The status of a male depends on the position of his mother, to whom he
remains closely bonded for her entire life.In chimpanzee groups the strongest bonds are established between the
males in order to hunt and to protect their shared territory.The females
live in overlapping home ranges within this territory but are not strongly
bonded to other females or to any one male.Gibbons establish monogamous, egalitarian relations, and one couple
will maintain a territory to the exclusion of other pairs.Males unite for
cooperative ventures, whereas females also bond with those of their own
sex.Monogamy, polygamy and polyandry are all in evidence.Usually a single male maintains a range for his family unit, which contains
several females.The strongest bonds are those between the male and his
females.Male
orangutans are intolerant of one another.In his prime, a single male establishes
a large territory, within which live several females.Each female has her
own, separate home range.He is now
a research professor at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center in
Atlanta and professor of psychology at Emory University.THE COMMUNICATIVE REPERTOIRE OF CAPTIVE BONOBOS (PAN PANISCUS) COMPARED
TO THAT OF CHIMPANZEES.Edited by Paul Heltne and Linda A.THE LAST APE: PYGMY CHIMPANZEE BEHAVIOR AND ECOLOGY.
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