Bonobos chimpanzee is a close relative of man
Posted on 09/08/2005 7:32:50 AM PDT by Mark Felton
Pygmy chimpanzees known as "jungle hippies" for resolving conflict through sex rather than fighting are hurtling towards extinction faster than any other primate, experts said yesterday.
Bonobos, gentle creatures found only in the remote war-torn forests of Congo, live in strictly matriarchal families and neither kill nor fight over territory.
Bonobos chimpanzee is a close relative of man
They also pair off for sex at the slightest hint of danger, stress or friction, earning them their hippy nicknames for "making love not war".
They are among man's closest relatives and face the prospect of being the first great ape to be wiped from the planet.
Claudine Andre, a conservationist, said yesterday: "All the great apes left in the wild face extinction, but it is the bonobos who look likely to be the first ones to go."
Mrs Andre, who runs an orphanage for the primates in Congo's capital Kinshasa, said: "Their habitat was right on the front line in the civil war, they have always been poached for bushmeat and, now that there is peace, you have loggers and mining companies starting operations again."
In 1980 there were an estimated 100,000 bonobos but 10 years later that had dropped to 10,000.
Since then Congo has been too dangerous for conservationists to research the species' numbers. Added to the destruction of their habitats from mining and logging, Congo's vast and inaccessible hinterland is still awash with gunmen.
They are falteringly being integrated into the nation's army, but as that process stalls, they are armed and hungry and patrolling bonobo territory.
Mrs Andre said: "These are animals which search for peace whenever they sense danger, usually through approaching another and having sexual intercourse.
"Their habitat has been occupied and the post-conflict period has been even harder. I fear for what the situation is now."
Ape experts from 23 countries are meeting this week in Kinshasa to plot ways to combat the effects on primates of logging, mining and bushmeat poaching.
Conservationists at the conference have warned that gorillas, chimpanzees, orang-utans and especially bonobos could be extinct within a human generation.
So is this why the armed gunmen are hunting them? ;^)
(I had heard that the AIDS virus originated with the monkeys or chimpanzees and then "jumped" to man where it became lethal)
Four words:
"SURVIVAL of the Fittest!"
Speak for your self there Bonzo
bonobos?....followers of bono?
Bonobo 1: You know, if we're about to be ripped to pieces and eaten by predators, we might as well enjoy our last few seconds here and die while having sex.
Bonobo 2: OK.
Bonobo 1: (to himself) Wow, I never expected that cheesy line to work.
"NO WAR FOR BANANAS!"
"If she doesn't show up soon I'm gonna start without her".
I saw a "nature" show on TV once, in which one learned academic argued that humans were like our relatives, the bonobos. What she meant was that humans just wanted to have sex with everyone. My conclusion is that, with regard to university professors and other academics, she is probably correct.
Their "pacifism" has nothing to do with their threatened extinction. They are being wiped out by men with guns, not by other chimpanzee groups.
Their strategy seemed to be working fine until they had the misfortune to have their territory turned into a human war zone.
Hyenas also live in strictly matriarchal families but they do kill and fight over territories so they are not in any danger of becoming extinct. I think these chimps need to be evacuated to Hollywood, Cal.
Does it occur to you that giving birth does not ensure survival?
Sounds like they ought to call this subspecies "Carter Monkeys".
It wouldn't matter a whit if these bonobos were aggressive. They'd still be wiped out because they're facing men with guns, not rival chimpanzee groups.
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