Why is GAFI needed

Bonobos

Background:
There are two species of the genus Pan - the Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) which has four sub-species and the Bonobo (Pan paniscus). Both chimpanzees and bonobo are of a similar size wth males being 30-61 kg in weight and females being about 35% less. Both species have black faces as adults, black fur, arms as long as their legs and no tail.

Based on DNA testing it is thought that chimpanzee and bonobos diverged about 1.3 milion years ago, with their common ancestor living in the Congo basin.

Chimpanzee ancestors spread through the drier forests and woodlands in a great arc from east Africa to West Africa, north of the Congo river. Meanwhile the bonobo ancestors stayed put in the south of the Congo river where habitat became increasingly wetter encouraging the bonobo to adapt its bioolgy and behaviour to survive.

Conservation status:

Bonobos are distributed patchily over a large geographical range of around 340,000 kms but are not common in the whole of this range. There is an estimated maximum of 100,000 bonobos remaining in the wild , most researchers believe much less.

The main threats to bonobos are :
• Bushmeat: Bonobos are hunted in most places where they live, although taboos give partial protection in some places. Soldiers, militia and refugees during the civil war in DRC killed many, but most bonobos escaped the direct impact. More serious was the disruption brought about by agriculture and trade resulting in food shortages in the late 1990s. Some areas reported a subsequent loss of 25-75% of their bonobos. With the end of the war, traffic in bushmeat has shifted from subsistence to profit which is keeping the last bonobos under continued threat.
• Logging: Peace may bring other dangers too. An expansion of industrial scale logging will create access roads and destroy habitat.
• Mining: New areas opened up to mining concessions will increase the pressure on bushmeat, create access roads for the transportation of commercials sale of bushmeat and disrupt or destroy habitat.

The opportunity to put in place conservation measures does exist. Bonobos still occur in a few remote and relatively un-peopled areas such as Lomako forest and Salonga National Park. Effective conservation, education and management are needed at all levels. There is a growing international awareness and support for these peaceful great apes, whose life styles offer such an alternative view to the aggressive chimpanzee models. Many local people, researchers and non-government organisations are working hard to give the bonobos a future, it needs an equal amount of commitment from all decision-makers, the international community, the general public and governments to ensure that bonobos are not just surviving but thriving in their homeland.

Some things you may like to know

Habitat:
• The main habitat where bonobos have been studied is primary lowland forest but they are also known to use open woodland savannah, dry forest, swamp forest, marsh grassland and disturbed secondary forest if possible.

Social interaction:
• Bonobos live in communities that are larger than those of chimpanzees , typically 50-120 individuals, but like the chimpanzees this number will split into smaller groups for foraging. They do, however, spend a lot of time in large groups, which can even include visits from neighbouring communities.
• Among bonobo communities grooming between males and females is frequent, females keep strong bonds with their sons, which increases the amount of male-female grooming.
• Bonobo males are much more peaceful than chimpanzee males, they not as territorial, are less aggressive, do not hunt large mammals and compete less for copulation opportunities.
• Bonobo communities are dominated by female coalitions which influence mating strategies and food allocation. Females bond in various ways, sharing food and forming alliances against the males, helping to off-set the males more robust natures. Female bonding is reinforced by genital rubbing often instigated by low ranking females which may help to reduce tension when food is monopolised.
• Female bonobos are continually receptive to males and since so many females are willing and available, male bonobos are not able to sequester females and rarely dispute access to them.

Eating:
• Bonobos are mainly fruit-eaters, but include leaves, pith, flowers, seeds, nuts, sprouts, mushrooms and algae in their diet. Earthworms, larvae, termites, ants, honey truffles, aquatic plants, invertebrates and fish have also been on the menu.
• Like the chimpanzees, bonobos will also eat small mammals occasionally, like bats, infant duiker, flying squirrel but there is little evidence that hunting is important to them a it is for communities of chimpanzees.

Click an ape to learn about the current status and threats

• Gorillas • Chimps • Orangutans