Scoop on Primates

Bonobos at the Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary for orphaned bonobos in the DRC were part of a recent study led by Dr. Hare of Duke University (NC) and Suzy Kwetuenda from the sanctuary. In this study, a bonobo was given access to food, while another was in an adjacent room. The bonobo with access to the food had two choices: eat the food alone or open the door and let the other bonobo join in to share the food.  Test subjects preferred to voluntarily open the door and share their food. Chimpanzees (and some humans I know) would rather stuff their faces than share with a friend. In his book entitled "Our Inner Ape", Franz De Waal relates an experiment he led.  He introduced two juvenile rhesus macaques (not a species known for peace making skills) among stumptail monkeys for five months. During their stay with the stumptail monkeys, the two rhesus monkeys learned to engage in reconciliation and grooming.  At the end of the experiment, these two juveniles continued to be more...

Listening to Susan Savage-Rumbaugh is inspiring.  She knows bonobos. She understands them and attempts to make the rest of us see what some refuse to see. The "forgotten ape" as Frans DeWaal like to call the bonobo, is not a pervert or  a beast.  It is a gentle, beautiful, intelligent creature, able to communicate and learn tasks by watching others.    An expert at resolving conflicts in a peaceful manner. Through her studies , Savage-Rumbaugh is demonstrating that the capabilities of a species are not solely determined by biology but mainly by exposure to other cultures. In this very inspiring  video you will see bonobos writing, starting a fire, playing pac-man, grooming their baby. Bonobos are an endangered species living in the Congo.  The estimated population of bonobos in situ is around 5,000.  It was estimated to about 10,000 in 1990.

I wanted to share this video of Panbanisha, a bonobo at the Great Ape Trust, who paints. I also wanted to show her here because I have not included a lot of news about bonobos, so I wanted to make up for it. The Forgotten Ape, as Frans de Waal calls the bonobo, could be considered the "hippie" of the ape community.  Just like chimps, bonobos are "cousins"of ours.  Unlike chimps though, they prefer to solve their issues with physical promiscuity and love - this is one of the reasons we rarely see them in documentaries on television.   Quite reminiscent of the Janet Jackson wardrobe incident, isn't it?  Violence and foul language are OK on TV, but a boob sneak peek is not... but  I digress. Watch Panbanisha paint.  Quite amazing! If you are curious about bonobos, check the Friends of Bonobos organization, o r visit the Bonobo Conservation Initiative .