Bonobos

Bonobos
Author: Brian Hare
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2017-10-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0191044202

The bonobo, along with the chimpanzee, is one of our two closest living relatives. Their relatively narrow geographic range (south of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo) combined with the history of political instability in the region, has made their scientific study extremely difficult. In contrast, there are dozens of wild and captive sites where research has been conducted for decades with chimpanzees. Because data sets on bonobos have been so hard to obtain and so few large-scale studies have been published, the majority of researchers have treated chimpanzee data as being representative of both species. However, this misconception is now rapidly changing. With relative stability in the DRC for over a decade and a growing community of bonobos living in zoos and sanctuaries internationally, there has been an explosion of scientific interest in the bonobo with dozens of high impact publications focusing on this fascinating species. This research has revealed exactly how unique bonobos are in their brains and behavior, and reminds us why it is so important that we redouble our efforts to protect the few remaining wild populations of this iconic and highly endangered great ape species.

I'm Lucy

I'm Lucy
Author: Mathea Levine
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2008
Genre: Bonobo
ISBN: 9780615181103

Bonobos are our closest great ape relatives who live in a uniquely peaceful and matriarchal society. In this story, you'll meet Lucy and her family, and see amazing photographs that will make you laugh out loud!

Bonobo Handshake

Bonobo Handshake
Author: Vanessa Woods
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2011-06-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1101528834

A young woman follows her fiancé to war-torn Congo to study extremely endangered bonobo apes-who teach her a new truth about love and belonging. In 2005, Vanessa Woods accepted a marriage proposal from a man she barely knew and agreed to join him on a research trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country reeling from a brutal decade-long war that had claimed the lives of millions. Settling in at a bonobo sanctuary in Congo's capital, Vanessa and her fiancé entered the world of a rare ape with whom we share 98.7 percent of our DNA. She soon discovered that many of the inhabitants of the sanctuary-ape and human alike-are refugees from unspeakable violence, yet bonobos live in a peaceful society in which females are in charge, war is nonexistent, and sex is as common and friendly as a handshake. A fascinating memoir of hope and adventure, Bonobo Handshake traces Vanessa's self-discovery as she finds herself falling deeply in love with her husband, the apes, and her new surroundings while probing life's greatest question: What ultimately makes us human? Courageous and extraordinary, this true story of revelation and transformation in a fragile corner of Africa is about looking past the differences between animals and ourselves, and finding in them the same extraordinary courage and will to survive. For Vanessa, it is about finding her own path as a writer and scientist, falling in love, and finding a home. Watch a Video

Bonobo and Chimpanzee

Bonobo and Chimpanzee
Author: Takeshi Furuichi
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 155
Release: 2019-11-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9811380597

This book describes the similarities and differences between two species, bonobos and chimpanzees, based on the three decades the author has spent studying them in the wild, and shows how the contrasting nature of these two species is also reflected in human nature. The most important differences between bonobos and chimpanzees, our closest relatives, are the social mechanisms of coexistence in group life. Chimpanzees are known as a fairly despotic species in which the males exclusively dominate over the females, and maintain a rigid hierarchy. Chimpanzees have developed social intelligence to survive severe competition among males: by upholding the hierarchy of dominance, they can usually preserve peaceful relations among group members. In contrast, female bonobos have the same or even a higher social status than males. By evolving pseudo-estrus during their non-reproductive period, females have succeeded in moderating inter-male sexual competition, and in initiating mate selection. Although they are non-related in male-philopatric society, they usually aggregate in a group, enjoy priority access to food, determine which male is the alpha male, and generally maintain much more peaceful social relations compared to chimpanzees. Lastly, by identifying key mechanisms of social coexistence in these two species, the author also seeks to find solutions or “hope” for the peaceful coexistence of human beings. "Takeshi Furuichi is one of very few scientists in the world familiar with both chimpanzees and bonobos. In lively prose, reflecting personal experience with apes in the rain forest, he compares our two closest relatives and explains the striking differences between the male- dominated and territorial chimpanzees and the female-centered gentle bonobos." Frans de Waal, author of Mama’s Last Hug - Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves (Norton, 2019)

Endangered

Endangered
Author: Eliot Schrefer
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2012-10-01
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0545470013

From National Book Award Finalist Eliot Schrefer comes the compelling tale of a girl who must save a group of bonobos -- and herself -- from a violent coup. Congo is a dangerous place, even for people who are trying to do good.When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos, she's not thrilled to be there. Then Otto, an infant bonobo, comes into her life, and for the first time she feels responsible for another creature.But peace does not last long for Sophie and Otto. When an armed revolution breaks out in the country, the sanctuary is attacked, and the two of them must escape unprepared into the jungle. Caught in the crosshairs of a lethal conflict, they must struggle to keep safe, to eat, and to live. In ENDANGERED, Eliot Schrefer plunges us into a heart-stopping exploration of the things we do to survive, the sacrifices we make to help others, and the tangled geography that ties us all, human and animal, together.

Behavioural Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos

Behavioural Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos
Author: Christophe Boesch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2002-08
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780521006132

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), otherwise known as pygmy chimpanzees, are the only two species of the genus Pan. As they are our nearest relatives, there has been much research devoted to investigating the similarities and differences between them. This book offers an extensive review of the most recent observations to come from field studies on the diversity of Pan social behaviour, with contributions from many of the world's leading experts in this field. A wide range of social behaviours is discussed including tool use, hunting, reproductive strategies and conflict management as well as demographic variables and ecological constraints. In addition to interspecies behavioural diversity, this text describes exciting new research into variations between different populations of the same species. Researchers and students working in the fields of primatology, anthropology and zoology will find this a fascinating read.

Bonobo

Bonobo
Author: Frans B. M. de Waal
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2023-11-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0520351282

This remarkable primate with the curious name is challenging established views on human evolution. The bonobo, least known of the great apes, is a female-centered, egalitarian species that has been dubbed the "make-love-not-war" primate by specialists. In bonobo society, females form alliances to intimidate males, sexual behavior (in virtually every partner combination) replaces aggression and serves many social functions, and unrelated groups mingle instead of fighting. The species's most striking achievement is not tool use or warfare but sensitivity to others. In the first book to combine and compare data from captivity and the field, Frans de Waal, a world-renowned primatologist, and Frans Lanting, an internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer, present the most up-to-date perspective available on the bonobo. Focusing on social organization, de Waal compares the bonobo with its better-known relative, the chimpanzee. The bonobo's relatively nonviolent behavior and the tendency for females to dominate males confront the evolutionary models derived from observing the chimpanzee's male power politics, cooperative hunting, and intergroup warfare. Further, the bonobo's frequent, imaginative sexual contacts, along with its low reproduction rate, belie any notion that the sole natural purpose of sex is procreation. Humans share over 98 percent of their genetic material with the bonobo and the chimpanzee. Is it possible that the peaceable bonobo has retained traits of our common ancestor that we find hard to recognize in ourselves? Eight superb full-color photo essays offer a rare view of the bonobo in its native habitat in the rain forests of Zaire as well as in zoos and research facilities. Additional photographs and highlighted interviews with leading bonobo experts complement the text. This book points the way to viable alternatives to male-based models of human evolution and will add considerably to debates on the origin of our species. Anyone interested in primates, gender issues, evolutionary psychology, and exceptional wildlife photography will find a fascinating companion in Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape.

Of Bonobos and Men

Of Bonobos and Men
Author: Deni Ellis Béchard
Publisher:
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2015
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9781571313454

When Deni Béchard learned of the last living bonobos matriarchal great apes that are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom he was astonished. How could we accept the disappearance of this being with so much to tell us about our own past? As he looked more closely though, the challenge of protecting them become discouragingly clear: Their home in the Congo rainforest has been devastated by war and aggressive resource extraction, and the people there are understandably skeptical of foreign intervention. And yet, when he decides to travel into the Congo with the Bonobo Conservation Initiative, he realize through hundreds of interviews, days traveling on motorcycles and canoes, and hours sitting with local guides waiting on apes that poverty does not equate to ignorance, that change requires more than wealth and power, and that only through collaboration can we achieve sustainable species conservation around the world. An adventure travel story as compelling as it is inspiring.

The Bonobo Way

The Bonobo Way
Author: Susan Block
Publisher:
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2014-10-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9780692323762

In this unique and paradigm-changing book, internationally acclaimed and controversial sex educator Dr. Susan Block offers a brilliant new view of human sexuality, war, peace and community, inspired by a role model who isn't even human: our closest genetic cousin, the bonobo.With a provocative, humorous and engaging style that makes science fun and ecology erotic, The Bonobo Way boldly asks: What do these great apes know about sex--and the rest of life--that we don't? Here are some things we know about bonobos: They have lots of sex. They never kill each other. They empower the females.They stay younger longer.They live in peace through pleasure.And we thought humans were the smartest apes! For decades, experts have used the "killer ape" paradigm to explain why humans murder, make war, bomb and behead each other, and supposedly always will. Sure, our common chimp cousins kill, but do they tell the whole tale?Luckily, no. The Bonobo Way shows the other side of the story, presenting the bonobos as a new great ape paradigm for humanity that could change the world... or at least improve your love life. "This book is really good... something I rarely say these days! The Bonobo Way is whimsical yet serious, easy to read yet thoroughly researched, challenging yet ultimately deeply comforting. Dr. Susan Block is living proof that bonobos aren't just sexy and fun--some of them are damned smart, too."Christopher Ryan, Ph.D. author of Sex at DawnFrom the lush depths of the rainforest to the satin sheets of your bedroom, Dr. Block takes you on a fascinating journey, weaving stories, studies, theories and fantasies into possibilities and a practical path of action, presenting a very different kind of "12-Step Program" to release your "inner bonobo," help save the real bonobos from extinction and energize all facets of your life. Whether you don't know bonobos from bananas, or you think you know all about these amazing creatures, The Bonobo Way will show you the way to a happier, healthier, sexier life, and a more peaceful, sustainable culture.