Congo Basin Peaceful Bonobos

Congo Basin Peaceful Bonobos · 360° Habitat Camp

What to look for

• Swinging liana & fruit highway — Arboreal suspensory brachiation corridor. Scan the liana-linked canopy used for agile suspensory travel and fruit sharing
• Forest stream of the Congo basin — Congo River allopatric speciation barrier. Centre the riverine margin illustrating the Congo River biogeographic barrier
• Abundant forest-floor herb glade — Terrestrial herbaceous vegetation (THV). Locate the dense terrestrial herbaceous patch enabling stable female associations

Source: Tan & Hare (2013), PLOS ONE & Prüfer et al. (2012), Nature — Xenophilic prosociality, female coalitions & genomic divergence in Pan paniscus.

Ask together: How did one wide, deep river that apes cannot swim across end up helping create a whole peaceful species?

Field quiz

Kids' question: Who leads the family group and keeps the peace inside a bonobo community?

• Wise mothers and grandmothers working together as best friends
• A single grumpy alligator in the river
• Tiny colorful butterflies

Adults' question: According to the ecological foraging hypothesis (Wrangham, 1986; Prüfer et al., 2012), what enabled female dominance and low lethal aggression in Pan paniscus?

• Year-round terrestrial herbaceous vegetation south of the Congo River enabling cohesive female alliances
• Sub-zero alpine snowpack forcing winter huddling
• Exclusive reliance on hunting large savanna antelopes
• Solitary territorial lifestyles with zero vocal communication

360° photo: AntRAKOTO, CC BY-SA 4.0

See it live: Live check: Lola ya Bonobo Rainforest Sanctuary Cam

By day

Bonobo troops climbing, grooming, sharing fruit & wading in forest streams

By night

Tree-nested bonobos & equatorial Congo cicada and frog biophony Lola ya Bonobo spans 30 hectares of primary Lukaya valley forest and pioneers reintroduction of rehabilitated troops into Ekolo ya Bonobo.

Watch the live cam →