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'Pacifist' chimps face extinction within a generation ("jungle hippies" make love not war)
The Telegraph ^ | 9/7/05 | telegraph

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.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: bonobo; bonobos; chimpanzee; chimpanzees
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Pacifists are slaves or leaches. In a tyranny they are slaves. In a free society they are leaches relying entirely on the willingness of others to sacrifice their own lives for the safety and freedom of the pacifists.
1 posted on 09/08/2005 7:32:51 AM PDT by Mark Felton
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To: Mark Felton
""These are animals which search for peace whenever they sense danger, usually through approaching another and having sexual intercourse."

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)

2 posted on 09/08/2005 7:36:18 AM PDT by Mark Felton ("...before honor is humility")
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To: Mark Felton

Four words:

"SURVIVAL of the Fittest!"


3 posted on 09/08/2005 7:36:31 AM PDT by highlymotivated (If American ever falls, a STINKING LIBERAL will be behind it.)
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To: Mark Felton
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
4 posted on 09/08/2005 7:38:05 AM PDT by cripplecreek (If you must obey your party, may your chains rest lightly upon your shoulders.)
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To: Mark Felton
They are among man's closest relatives

Speak for your self there Bonzo

5 posted on 09/08/2005 7:39:43 AM PDT by joesnuffy
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To: Mark Felton

bonobos?....followers of bono?


6 posted on 09/08/2005 7:40:24 AM PDT by joesnuffy
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To: Mark Felton
Saddam and Chirac, preparing to settle their differences.


7 posted on 09/08/2005 7:43:21 AM PDT by Reeses
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To: Mark Felton
“Ape shall never kill ape."


8 posted on 09/08/2005 7:59:37 AM PDT by Names Ash Housewares
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To: Mark Felton

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.


9 posted on 09/08/2005 8:06:28 AM PDT by VRWCmember
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To: Mark Felton
Pacifist chimps?

"NO WAR FOR BANANAS!"

10 posted on 09/08/2005 8:23:24 AM PDT by laz (They can bus 'em to the polls, but they can't bus 'em out of the path of a Cat 5 hurricane.)
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To: Mark Felton
Image hosted by TinyPic.com

"If she doesn't show up soon I'm gonna start without her".

11 posted on 09/08/2005 8:24:17 AM PDT by Old Seadog (Birthdays start out being fun. But too many of them will kill you..)
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To: Mark Felton

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.


12 posted on 09/08/2005 8:31:47 AM PDT by popdonnelly
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To: Old Seadog
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.


Hmmmm...something doesn't seem to be working here.
13 posted on 09/08/2005 8:32:44 AM PDT by frossca
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To: Mark Felton
Pacifists are slaves or leaches. In a tyranny they are slaves. In a free society they are leaches relying entirely on the willingness of others to sacrifice their own lives for the safety and freedom of the pacifists.

Their "pacifism" has nothing to do with their threatened extinction. They are being wiped out by men with guns, not by other chimpanzee groups.

14 posted on 09/08/2005 8:36:04 AM PDT by malakhi
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To: frossca
Hmmmm...something doesn't seem to be working here.

Their strategy seemed to be working fine until they had the misfortune to have their territory turned into a human war zone.

15 posted on 09/08/2005 8:36:58 AM PDT by malakhi
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To: Mark Felton
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.

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.

16 posted on 09/08/2005 8:41:13 AM PDT by scouse
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To: frossca

Does it occur to you that giving birth does not ensure survival?


17 posted on 09/08/2005 9:12:33 AM PDT by ExitPurgamentum
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To: malakhi

Sounds like they ought to call this subspecies "Carter Monkeys".


18 posted on 09/08/2005 9:15:11 AM PDT by Wristpin ( Varitek says to A-Rod: "We don't throw at .260 hitters.....")
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To: Wristpin
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.

19 posted on 09/08/2005 9:18:17 AM PDT by malakhi
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To: Wristpin
"Sounds like they ought to call this subspecies 'Carter Monkeys'."

More like Clinton Monkeys. The only thing impotent about Clinton was his approach to North Korea, Rwanda, Somalia and metastasizing global jihad.
20 posted on 09/08/2005 9:57:31 AM PDT by RightOnTheLeftCoast (You're it)
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