Bonobo

• It shares roughly 98.7% of its genome with humans and is, alongside the chimpanzee, our closest living relative.
• It feeds mainly on fruit, supplemented with leaves, seeds, fungi, eggs and the occasional small vertebrate.
• It lives only in the lowland rainforest south of the Congo River, in the DR Congo.
• comportamientoIt uses sexual contact as a social tool to defuse tension and settle conflicts within the group, well beyond its reproductive purpose.
• comportamientoIn recent years wild females have been recorded adopting unrelated infants from another group, a behaviour previously described only anecdotally.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat & environment

Lowland tropical rainforest south of the Congo River, in the DR Congo

Birth weight

~1.33 kg

Size at birth

Wholly dependent, clinging to its mother's belly from birth

Sexual maturity

9-15 years (figures vary; most sources give 12-13 years)

Gestation / incubation

220-240 days (7.5-8 months)

Litter / clutch size

1 young, with an interval between births of 4.5-5 years

Lifespan in captivity

Documented record of 50.1-55 years in captivity

Sources consulted: AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); UN-GRASP; Britannica Kids; A-Z Animals; Facts About Animals; Animal Diversity Web; SDZWA Library Fact Sheet

Best time: All year round in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, by day; it is only easy to watch in habituated groups, such as those at Wamba or Lomako.