Scientists have identified three species of African
apes: the
gorilla and two species of
chimpanzees. A Pan troglodyte, the common chimpanzee, is the larger of the two. Pan Paniscus, which had previously been called the “pygmy chimpanzee”, is now named the “Bonobo". The name "Bonobo" is derived from the town of Bolobo which lies on the Zaire River in the western area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bonobos live naturally in the rain forests of Congo, formerly Zaire. There probably are about 20,000 worldwide, although estimates are fuzzy. Their numbers are declining as their forest home falls to agriculture, charcoal-making and other development. In the wild it is hard to find Bonobos because they are afraid of people.
Eating meat may be opportunistic in nature and, in captivity, Bonobos are strictly herbivores. Bonobos can live as long as 50 years in captivity. The Bonobo is the closest living relative of humans, sharing more than 98 percent of human genetic profile. The Bonobo is restricted to the lowland rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) between the Congo (Zaire) and Kasai Rivers. Even within its range, it occurs only sporadically.
Bonobos live in multi-male, multi-female, fission-fusion communities. They travel in mixed gender, foraging
groups daily. These groups are not fixed; members move from group to group regularly. Groups come together nightly to form a larger "troop" which nests in the same area, probably for protection. Single Bonobos are rarely seen. In the morning, they will break into foraging groups again, the size of which is dependent upon food availability. Behavior generally shows high tolerance, aggression rare.
Sexual behavior used for peacemaking and tension regulation. Food sharing is common.
Males remain in their mother''s group for life while
females emigrate. Females exchange various types of social behaviors such as genito-genital rubbing, peering, and food sharing, this seems to reduce tension and promote the formation of social associations among them. A Bonobo community might have 50-200 members foraging groups might be as small as 1-6 members.
Bonobos are largely diurnal, arboreal, and terrestrial. They normally spent 43% of day resting, 18% arboreal feeding, 20% terrestrial activities (travel and feeding), 13% traveling. Their average traveling is 1.5-15 km/day to forage. Nest construction is similar to that of common chimp. Usually built in fruit-bearing trees; saplings less than 8" in diameter are favored. Average nest height is 7-15 meter Adult Bonobos sometimes share a nest (night or day); a unique behavior among African apes.
Their affiliate behavior is highest between male and female adults. Next important hierarchy is the adult female-female bonds. In common chimpanzees the male-male bond is highest but dominance relation between males and females is unclear. Females have priority access to desirable feeding sites. Males are rarely submissive to young females, but behave submissively to the female aggregate. Females may form alliances in order to attack males.
Females mature at around ten years old; males earlier. The average gestation period is 244 days. Their sexual maturity development age is reached at 8-9 yrs. Cycle length is 37-49 days. There is no specific birth seasonality. Females are sexually receptive except for a short anestrous period (within a year) after parturition. Bonobos live a relatively peaceful life compared to chimpanzees. This is due largely to the fact that female Bonobos are eight times more available to males for mating and there are equal numbers of females to mature males so there is less fighting for mating rights. Bonobos are highly "promiscuous", often engaging in sexual behaviors outside of that for reproduction. This is thought to be one of the main reasons that Bonobos are infrequently aggressive as the sexual interactions reduce tensions.
Sex is an important way to ensure group stabilitynd ease tensions. Bonobos substitute sex for aggression, and sexual interactions occur more often among Bonobos than among other primates. Reduced male aggression, strong bonds between males and females, and frequent sex (including male-to-male and female-to-female) characterize Bonobo society. However, the rate of reproduction in the wild is about the same as that of chimpanzees (a single infant is born every five to six years) beginning at age 12.
Bonobos engage in sexual activities of all sorts— frequently for purposes other than breeding. They use heterosexual and homosexual activities to release excitement and tension. Any erotic behavior employed by man is also used by Bonobos. Bonobos are very intelligent. After observing their tool use and their ability to organize intricate social relationships, scientific studies reveal that Bonobos have a sense of self.The Bonobo is listed as an endangered species. The few thousand that remain in the wild are hunted by humans, and their habitat is being fragmented by encroaching human settlement, agriculture, and logging operations. It''s the responsibility of entire world to protect the race of this human-like animal and provide the natural environment to them so that they can protect themselves. They are not humans’ enemy so humans should also react positively to them and animal rights protection organization must pay attention to this important matter.
More abstracts about the Bonobo