Bonobo (Pan paniscus)

Bonobo overview

The bonobo is a great ape found only in the rainforests south of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Along with the chimpanzee, it is the closest living relative of humans. Bonobos are about as tall as chimpanzees but more slender, with longer legs, a black face, pink lips and hair that parts down the middle of the head. Their societies are centered on females, who form strong alliances and outrank males. Bonobos are known for settling tension with social and sexual contact rather than violence, and lethal aggression has not been observed between wild bonobos.

How Long Do Bonobos Live?

Bonobos are thought to live 30–40 years in the wild and typically 40–50 years in zoos. Wild figures are estimates, because bonobos have been studied for less time than chimpanzees and their home has long been hard to reach. A few captive bonobos have lived well into their 50s.

How Much Does a Bonobo Weigh?

Adult bonobos weigh 30–60 kg (66–132 lb). Females average about 33 kg and males about 45 kg. They weigh roughly the same as chimpanzees but look lighter, with a slimmer chest, narrower shoulders and a smaller head.

How Tall Is a Bonobo?

A bonobo stands about 1.0–1.2 m (3.3–3.9 ft) tall when upright, with a head-and-body length of 70–83 cm. The old name pygmy chimpanzee is misleading, since bonobos are not much smaller than chimpanzees. Their legs are proportionally longer, and they walk upright more often.

How Long Is a Bonobo Pregnant?

A bonobo pregnancy lasts about eight months, or roughly 240 days. Females have their first infant at around 13–14 years old and then give birth to a single baby about every four to six years. Sons often stay close to their mothers for life.

What Do Bonobos Eat?

Bonobos are omnivores that eat mostly fruit. They also rely heavily on the stems and pith of ground herbs, which are abundant year-round, plus leaves, seeds and flowers. They eat insects and occasionally catch small mammals such as forest antelopes, but hunt less than chimpanzees.

Diet type: omnivore. Fruit makes up more than half the diet, supplemented by leaves, herb stems and pith, seeds, flowers and honey, plus insects, earthworms and occasionally small mammals such as duikers and squirrels.

Where Do Bonobos Live?

Bonobos live only in the lowland rainforests and swamp forests of the central Congo Basin, south of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The river, which apes do not swim across, separates them completely from chimpanzees and gorillas to the north.

Are Bonobos Endangered?

The bonobo is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, with a decreasing population estimated at a minimum of 15,000–20,000. Poaching for bushmeat is the greatest threat, followed by forest loss and disease. Decades of conflict in the DR Congo have made protection difficult.

Endangered

Bonobo fun facts

• Bonobos were only recognized as a separate species in 1929, from a skull in a Belgian museum that had been labeled as a young chimpanzee.
• In bonobo society a male's rank depends heavily on his mother's rank, and mothers actively help their sons gain mating opportunities.
• Bonobos share food with strangers; in experiments they chose to unlock a door and share a meal with an unfamiliar bonobo.
• Kanzi, a captive bonobo, learned to communicate with hundreds of symbols on a keyboard and to understand spoken English sentences.
• Bonobos and chimpanzees split from a common ancestor roughly one to two million years ago, around the time the Congo River became a barrier.

Rankings and comparisons

Bonobo FAQ

Related animals

All mammals