Sharing - Natural Instinct or Learned Behavior? Bonobos Like to Share Their Grub
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...