In one incident, three high-ranking females attacked four unruly males, biting part of the toe off the alpha male, who came slinking back to the family three weeks later. (Read more about how bonobos are kind to strangers.)Įven so, female bonobos can be aggressive if needed. They’re also willing to share food, not only with friends, but with bonobos they don’t know. The older females in the group usually decide when and which way they will travel.īonobos are famous for their frequent use of copulation to smooth over disagreements and calm anxious family members. Bonobos also sleep aloft large groups, making nighttime nests in the crooks of tree limbs.Īlso like chimps, bonobos live in fission-fusion societies, meaning that smaller “parties” will split off from the main troop to forage elsewhere for the day, so the composition of groups often changes. Their wide-ranging diet includes fruits, insects, fish, and small mammals, including monkeys, hyrax, and small antelope.īonobos forage both on the ground-for earthworms and other invertebrates-and in the forest canopy, where they swing through the trees in search of fruit. Western scientists often called them the “pygmy chimp” until 1929, when bonobos were officially recognized as a separate species.īonobos are roughly the same size as chimps, but with lither bodies smaller, more rounded shoulders longer legs and a propensity to walk upright. Yet these primates, native only to Democratic Republic of the Congo, are often overshadowed by their more well-known chimp cousins. The bonobo is a species of great ape that shares nearly 99 percent of our DNA, just like chimpanzees. Current Population Trend: Decreasing What is a bonobo?

Bonobo ape facts