BONOBOS
BONOBOS 290801 0558 NOTES ABOUT BONOBOS for later use in on web .
Ignorant puritans might object that bonobos do not have god.
0602 B ADS??????
0603 VIDEO IN PLACE??????
0604 CAMERAS (ALL SORTS9 TO LOCAL NATIVES? TRAINING NATIVES?
0605 BRIDGES?
(MANY OF THESE IDEAS ARE PROBABLY NOT GOOD)
0643 chimps can be used in movies because they are cute, but bonobos are not cute...
120901 2125 I see there is a site where you can watch pigs all day long --- ergo, why not same for simians, especially Bonobos. You know, more money (I hear) is made in porn films than in normal Hollywood --- so, let the porn film folks do some charity by supporting Bonobos. Do you worry if that may offend the Mormons etc?
2156 How about testing humans to see how clever they are at doing what apes do, and the mental processes involved in e g climbing trees.
mandag 19. november 2001 00:06 What follows next is a large few items from other site. I am hoping for permission to keep it on mine, with a view to being helpful. As far as i am concerned, Bonobos is the charity most important of all. (as you may have noticed, my own site has no pictures) (there are a few typos below, but I´m sure you can plow thru them) SAVE OUR SIMIANS!!!!!
BPF - Bonobo Protection Fund
Bonobo Intelligence
Photo by Anna Clopet.........GSU Artwork BONOBOS CAN READ THESE SYMBOLS - CAN YOU? Scientists have found that bonobos can learn language even though they cannot talk as we do because their vocal tract is shaped a little differently. They can only make very high sounds that are difficult for us to understand, though they can communicate well among themselves. Scientists at Georgia State University's Language Research Center have been working with bonobos for more than 20 years. They have found that bonobos can understand our spoken language even though they cannot speak it clearly. Bonobos easily learn symbols that represent things of interest to them and use these symbols to communicate. For example, in the picture above, the bonobo named Panbanisha is pointing to the symbol for blueberries to say that she is going to go look in the forest for blueberries. Here are the symbols for "go" and "blueberries." Bonobos not only know how to ask for things and to say where they are going, they know how to report on things that they have seen and heard. In the photo below Panbanisha is commenting that she has heard another ape, Sherman, who is vocalizing from a long distance away. Photo by Anna Clopet This is the symbol for Sherman. Bonobos have learned how to understand the English language and to communicate with us in captivity. In addition, they have learned how to use and construct many different tools. Below, Kanzi is hitting two flint rocks together very hard in order to knock a small sharp-edged flake tool that will function as a knife. Photo by Anna Clopet.............................GSU Photo After Kanzi makes the sharp flint chip, he takes it to a box filled with food and tied shut with a strong nylon rope. Kanzi carefully uses the flint knife to saw through this rope. If bonobos can learn language and make tools in captivity, what might they do in the wild, where the constraints of nature are far more demanding? We do not yet know, but there is good reason to believe that they do far more than scientists have yet learned. If we do not act now to protect their way of life, mankind will soon lose its one remaining chance to learn about our closest living kin. For more information about Ape Intelligence see: Georgia State University's Language Research Center Web Site. UPDATED; 03/20/00
BPF - Bonobo Protection Fund
Bonobos Are Rapidly Vanishing from Their Last Remaining Habitat Bonobos are one of the few large remaining mammals in the Congo basin. Consequently, they are being increasingly consumed as a viable protein and economic resource. Hunters, equipped with modern weapons, easily wipe out a stretch of several hundred miles within a few months. For many years, bonobos were safe because of wide-spread taboos. Local people viewed bonobos and man as "brothers of long ago" and local legends protected them. In these legends, bonobos and man lived side by side until man invented fire. Bonobos also protected men from harm and even carried them down from trees when vines they were climbing broke. Likewise, bonobos would attack and kill men who hunted them. They differentiated between men who were their friends and those who were their enemies. Until 1980, trapping was their largest threat, for they often became ensnared in traps meant for other animals. Bonobo Hand Mangled by Trap Photo by Karen Bass But this was before guns and ammunition became prevalent in the Congo basin. Guns are rapidly changing the picture. Photo by Karl Ammann Slaughter of Bonobos, Gorillas and Chimpanzees for the Bushmeat Trade Has Become Rampant in Many Countries in Central Africa. ---------------------------------
Hunters Now Take Pride in the Number of Apes They Can Kill in a Month's Time. --------------------------------- Word has begun to spread in Kinshasa and Kisangani and other large cities, that the taboos against hunting and eating our "brothers," bonobos and other apes, are "old legends" that should be forgotten. The Congolese economy has collapsed and Congolese have recently began to hunt anything that will bring a few pennies on the smoked meat market. Most hunters do not kill apes for themselves, but rather to sell as meat to those who live in cities. Apes of all types are being killed not for need, but for profit. --------------------------------- Bonobo Infant Without Mother--Approximate Remaining Life Span: 2-8 weeks Sometimes infants are taken as pets, in hopes that they can be sold, because they are too small to provide much meat. The pet trade has been severely curtailed by international efforts to stop the importation of primates as pets, though, and so infants rarely bring much money to the hunter. More often now, infants become playthings for local children, who, knowing no better, tease them till they die of starvation. Photo by Karl Ammann Infant Ape that Served as a Pet Till It Died of Starvation. Its Home was a Suitcase. CAN'T THIS BE CHANGED? Yes - With a Little Help! UPDATED; 03/20/00
BPF - Bonobo Protection Fund
The Bonobo Protection Fund or BPF is a group of international scientists and laypersons who are concerned about the future of one of human kind's closest living relatives, the Bonobo. The BPF is a subcomponent of Georgia State University's Foundation. BPF is supported entirely by outside donations and grants. All expenditures must meet the guidelines established by GSU's Foundation and are reviewed yearly by GSU Foundation officials.
Dedicated to Conserving the Earth's Last Great Ape BPF operates according to a constitution adopted by its governing panel of scientists and laypersons. BPF's purpose is to further research into means of conserving bonobos in all ways, but especially in their natural habitat in the Democratic Republic of Congo. BPF 's governing panel currently has scientists from all bonobo field sites in Congo, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Japan, USA, and Great Britain. In addition, Congolese scientists and laypersons are represented in BPF's governing panel. BPF attempts to work closely with, and strongly support, the policies of the American and European Bonobo Species Survival Plan groups or (SSP and ESP), established by zoological parks around the world. Members of BPF Policy Panel participate in and support SSP and ESP goals. However, BPF remains an independent organization dedicated to protecting and conserving bonobos in all habitats. BPF does not construct facilities or habitats for bonobos outside of Africa. BPF entertains research proposals from conservation-oriented scientists who seek to find increasingly effective means to conserve bonobos in their natural habitat. BPF provides its members with regular reports regarding the effectiveness and the findings of its programs. Artwork by Children of Congo Article 3 Goals of the Society 1. To support research to the end of conserving and protecting the bonobo species (Pan paniscus) in Congo and to conserve and to protect individual bonobos wherever they might need assistance to the end that they survive in an appropriate environment and that they reproduce. 2. The efforts of the Society will be focused upon Africa and particularly upon Congo, the only natural habitat of the bonobo. 3. To advocate, encourage, and support research programs that are both interdisciplinary and international in their orientation to achieve conservation of the bonobo. 4. To support research that will focus on the bonobo in the wild to the end that its distribution, its ecology, and the conditions necessary for its conservation be understood. Studies of the bonobos' natural behaviors in Congo, of their diet, of their natural predators, and of the effects which human presence has upon them in the field are instances of research endorsed by the Society. Studies will not intervene beyond minimal levels upon the feral bonobos. Bonobos will not be captured and/or confined in Congo or in any other place by BPF for the purposes of research. 5. To advance research toward developing means of education of international populations, as appropriate, to serve the interests of conservation and protection of the bonobo as stated above. 6. To advance research towards the encouragement of, insofar as possible, both an understanding of the bonobo by the citizens of Congo who live near or in the immediate proximity of bonobo groups of the forests, and a sense of responsibility for the conservation of the bonobo. 7. To eradicate hunting, poaching, and/or the eating of bonobos through education of the people of Congo and elsewhere through the lease of Wildlife Rights and the empowerment of local people to enforce them through research-oriented efforts. 8. To encourage the government of Congo to assume effective responsibility for the natural populations of bonobos and to establish preserves for their long-term conservation and protection. The conservation of the natural forests that are defined as preserves for the bonobo will be necessary for this effort to succeed. 9. To make it attractive in every dimension (financially, morally, educationally, etc.) for the people of Congo and the government of Congo to want to conserve and to protect the bonobo population indigenous to the forests of Congo. 10. To collaborate with other organizations and agencies with goals compatible with those of the Society. 11. To establish a membership and an Policy Panel and any other such group that is deemed vital to the achievement of goals of BPF. List of Policy Panel UPDATED; 03/20/00
BPF - Bonobo Protection Fund Bonobo Sexuality Bonobos need protection not only from needless habitat destruction and irresponsible hunting in Africa, but from misunderstanding here at home as well. Unfortunately, because of the bonobos' anatomical similarity to human beings, incorrect conclusions have at times been drawn regarding the meaning of many sociosexual interactions among bonobos. There has arisen a popular movement called the "Bonobo Way," which seeks to encourage people to adopt bonobo sexual practices in their own lives, and bonobos have appeared on web sites dedicated to pornographic material. While bonobos appear to many, at first glance, to be the quintessential "sexual libertarians," a fuller understanding of their interactions reveals that this is not the case. Bonobos have a variety of different behaviors that involve genital regions of the body, but not all of these activities are sexual in the sense that we humans typically understand the meaning of "sexuality" in our own species. Although similarities between the sexual behaviors of bonobos and humans do exist, there are many dissimilarities as well. A true understanding of bonobo sexuality must take these dissimilarities into account before attempting to "make sense" of behaviors that might appear sexual. This is an accepted scientific principle for the interpretation of all nonhuman primate behavior. What are some differences between human and bonobo sexuality that make it impossible to equate their sexuality with our own in a one-to-one manner? The most obvious is that the genitalia of both male and female bonobos are anatomically different from our own. Differences in genitalia lead, quite naturally, to differences in sexual behavior as well as to speciation. Bonobo males possess a penis that is very narrow and thin when erect. This penis is designed specifically to penetrate the large sexual swellings possessed by female bonobos. These sexual swellings result from a profound engorgement (up to 50 times the normal size) of the female sexual skin. This sexual skin becomes engorged differentially at various points of the female's reproductive cycle, and serves as a visual signal of the female's reproductive state. The engorgement of the female sexual skin is not related specifically to the sexual act itself nor to presexual encounters. Rather, it is a physiological signal that remains constant as an indicator of reproductive state. Human females have no obvious counterpart to the sexual engorgement of bonobo females. These differences between bonobos and ourselves most probably occurred, in an evolutionary sense, after the human clan split from the lineage that was shared by gorilla, bonobo, and chimpanzee, since gorilla females do not exhibit these large and unusual swellings. This means that sexual swellings--and their attendant sexual interactions--are peculiarly chimpanzee and bonobo adaptations to the social-physical environment within which their clan evolved. Consequently, many of their sexual "solutions" are not those that were adopted by our species, or by gorillas or orangutans. For example, the bonobo penis is designed to achieve a rapid state of erection, insertion, and withdrawal, with coitus rarely lasting more than a few seconds. The rapidity with which both partners are able to complete sexual encounters is unlike the coitus of human partners, which is considerably more intimate and anatomically difficult. However, this is not surprising, for the mark of most human behavior, as contrasted with bonobos, is that human actions are more complex and intricate. The sexual swellings of bonobo and chimpanzee females render anatomical coupling of opposite-sex pairs exceptionally easy and expedient, by human standards. Moreover, the structure of the male penis, adapted as it is for the female's sexual swelling, means that copulation in the absence of a sexual swelling is, at most, a wishful thought on the part of the male. Certainly nothing approaching rape, in the absence of a sexual swelling, would be anatomically feasible, and reports of copulations with nonswollen females are absent from both field and laboratory reports. It is thought by some primatologists that the extraordinarily large female swelling functions to attract the visual attention of males in forest that is very dense. Such a swelling permits males to determine, from quite a distance, the sexual state of females. Obviously, human females, by virtue of adopting a bipedal posture that conceals, rather than exposes, their genitalia, and by wearing clothes, have adopted a strategy different from that of female bonobos toward advertising sexual receptivity. Thus, actions that might be considered sexually provocative in bonobo females are often different from sexually provocative actions in human females. In all apes, including bonobos, males use olfaction as a means of inspecting the genitalia of females. This is not necessarily a sexual activity, as bonobos do not cover their genitalia with clothes or show embarrassment regarding bodily odors. A difference between ourselves and bonobos is that they touch, smell, and explore each other's bodies daily while grooming. Humans in modern technological societies generally limit grooming activities to the beauty parlor or to the barber shop--and limit grooming to areas other than genitalia. But bonobos see things differently. Every part of the bonobo's body, including its genitalia, receives a thorough grooming from the mother and others, from the day of birth onward. Adults also regularly groom each other's bodies, including each other's genitalia, with no indications of sexual desire expressed as they do so. Their attention is focused on grooming, not sex, and they may liberally employ their lips, hands, tongue, and teeth during grooming. Such grooming, even though it may include genitalia, does not function as a prelude to sexual arousal in bonobos. It is unfortunate, but grooming behaviors of bonobos have sometimes been mistaken for cunnilingus in our own species. Grooming activities can take many forms in bonobos, especially when they are in captivity and have much time on their hands and little to occupy themselves in their enclosures. In fact, it is from work with captive bonobos that much of the misinterpretation of bonobo sexuality has arisen, not because of erroneous reports by persons who have studied captive bonobos, but because the conditions of captivity predispose bonobos to engage in many behaviors that are not seen in the wild. This does not mean that captive conditions produce bonobos with an abnormal preoccupation with sexuality. Actually, captivity can often have quite the opposite result. Since bonobos, like other apes, are highly dependent upon long-term kinship bonds, the forming of captive groups, often composed of individuals who are not well known to one another, functions to promote an unusual and extreme need for social bonding. Bonobos may temporarily respond to such conditions with increased sexual interactions--particularly if food is simply placed in a pile on the floor and the entire group is released in the enclosure at one time and expected to share the food. Given the close dependency between food and sexuality that characterizes bonobos, such situations heighten the sexual interactions reported by field primatologists. However, such increased sexual reactions do not continue when the group remains stable for a long period of time. Another often misunderstood aspect of bonobo sexuality is the interactions that take place between same-sexed individuals. Such interactions, while not termed "homosexuality" by primatologists, have nonetheless been linked to human homosexuality by naive observers as well as by cult groups who use bonobo sexuality to promote homosexuality and lesbianism. It is true that interactions that appear to be sexual in nature, by human standards, do take place between individuals of the same sex in bonobos. It may also prove to be true that, in the common ancestor of man and bonobo, same-sex interactions served some evolutionary function that is currently not well understood. What is not true, however, is the existence of a one-to-one correspondence between homosexuality or lesbianism in human society and the same-sex interactions that take place in bonobo society. Sexuality has evolved independently in bonobos and human beings for at least 6 million years. During that time, the two species have adopted quite distinctive locomotor postures and sexual strategies. Consequently, the reasons for same-sex interaction can best be understood in terms of the bonobos' own sexual strategies, while the reasons for homosexuality and lesbianism in human beings are best understood in light of sexual decisions that are unique to us. For example, humans are the only species to cover their bodies with clothes and the only species to utilize clothing as a means of conveying sexuality and sexual identity. But we also use clothing to misinform others about our sexual identity. Indeed, the display of sexuality, status, and power, as mediated through clothing and body marking in the human species, is an important political activity. Same-sex interactions in bonobos are not the result of "sexual preference," but rather a reflection of the bonobo's tendency to utilize genital thrusting, on the part of both sexes, as an affiliative behavior, much as we utilize hugging. Hugging or embracing in our species can occur without any link to sexual or copulatory activity. It can occur to express friendship, greeting, excitement, affection, joy, reconciliation, empathy, and comfort, and even to give another person warmth. Bonobos utilize both embracing and thrusting behavior similarly in a wide range of circumstances. Consequently, embracing and thrusting interactions between bonobos of the same sex can be a simple greeting behavior, much as two human individuals hug each other upon meeting. Although primatologists have asserted that bonobos utilize sexual behavior in many situations where human beings do not, the proper interpretation of this fact is not that bonobos are "hypersexed," but rather that bonobos do not differentiate between sexual and nonsexual behavior in the same sense that we do. To interpret a bonobo greeting, which often includes hugging and thrusting, as "lesbianism" or "homosexuality" reflects incorrectly upon the actual function of greeting behavior in bonobo societies. The terms lesbianism and homosexuality indicate, in our society, a particular preference for same-sex partners. Such partners are specifically sought out in preference to opposite-sex partners for the purpose of engaging in behaviors that are sexually motivated. Homosexuality and lesbianism also often entail specific modes of dress, speech, body postures, etc., that are distinct, and are themselves designed to function as provocative sexual signals of a specific form. Lesbians and homosexuals may, in fact, on certain occasions avoid hugging and embracing same-sexed individuals who are not recognized sexual partners for fear of inducing jealousy in their own same-sex partners. Nothing like this occurs among bonobos. No females appear to preferentially seek out only lesbian partners for sexual interactions, and no males appear to seek out only male partners. Virtually all bonobo males and females engage in opposite-sex sexual interactions, and virtually all females produce and raise offspring due to such procreative encounters. Sexual interactions between bonobo females appear to be closely linked to agreements between females to share food resources, and they serve as a socially overt announcement and reaffirmation of standing agreements regarding dispersal of food resources. Most sexual interactions among females occur immediately prior to entering a specific foraging area or receiving food in captivity. Once the females are in the area and begin foraging, there is almost no conflict among them over food items. Similarly, same-sex interactions between males tend to precede the males' convergence upon food resources. When foraging begins, there is similarly little conflict between males. Presumably, the same-sex interactions (which have been termed "copulations") function to restate social bonds and to eliminate any aggression over the sharing of valuable food resources. In contrast to same-sex patterns, opposite-sex interactions tend to occur during food consumption rather than before or following. In fact, both males and females have been observed to approach a member of the opposite sex and toss food in front of them in an effort to solicit sexual encounters, and to leave food deliberately for an anticipated encounter with a member of the opposite sex. While much remains to be understood about the relationship between food and sexuality in bonobos, it is already quite clear that same-sex encounters are used to signal to group members specific relationships with regard to anticipated sharing of food resources. Similarly, opposite-sex encounters seem to be linked to "gifts" of food between the sexes. Additionally, opposite-sex encounters may involve more partner selection and favoritism than same-sex encounters as well as behaviors that appear to share some similarities with "infatuation" in our own species. Clearly, same-sex interactions among human beings do not revolve around food. Obviously, homosexuals and lesbians do not engage in coitus in front of others prior to eating so that everyone knows who can take food in the vicinity of whom. Consequently, a one-to-one linking of bonobo sexuality with lesbianism or homosexuality in our own species is inappropriate. Moreover, the sexual swellings exhibited by bonobos have no counterpart in our own species. The sexual swelling, the external location of the clitoris, and the ventral rotation of the external swelling appear to greatly facilitate same-sex interactions among bonobo females. Human females are not physically adapted for such same-sex interactions and are not anatomically equipped to physically perform the specific activities displayed by bonobo females. These factors reveal that similarities between bonobo sexual interactions, often termed G-G (genito-genital) rubbing, and human lesbianism are, at best, superficial. Another aspect of bonobo behavior that is often mischaracterized is that of self-touching and/or genital manipulation, which may be confused with masturbation in our own species. It should be recognized that "masturbation" is a term specific to our own species, a term that carries with it a negative connotation. This negative connotation has arisen because of the assumption that self-stimulation is an outlet for sexual urges that cannot be met in what are assumed to be more "natural ways" by our culture. According to the cultural norms of Western societies, masturbation is said to occur because desired sexual partners are not permissible within the cultural framework assigned to the person or because the person does not wish to engage in sexual activity with partners that are available. In any event, whatever the determining "causal factor," the negative connotations associated with the human view of "masturbation" are improperly extended when we apply this term to other animals. Self-stimulation of genital organs occurs in bonobos; it also occurs in other apes as well as in monkeys, dolphins, and elephants and is, in fact, quite widespread among living creatures. Such self-stimulation is a simple reaction to internal stimuli that affect the reproductive organs. It is improbable that sensitive and reactive organs in any creature would only be responsive to the actual physical act of procreation. Thus, self-stimulation of these organs need not be viewed any differently than other forms of self-stimulation such as grooming, exercising, etc. The fact that a moral connotation is attached to self-stimulation in our own species is something that, for better or for worse, Homo sapiens have created, not something that characterizes the behavior of other species. Self-stimulation among bonobos occurs in both captive and wild environments, but is far more frequently seen among captive animals. This is possibly because captive and wild social lives are very different. While caretakers do everything they can to alleviate such factors, it is nonetheless impossible to recreate, in captivity, anything similar to the social groups of wild bonobos. Such groups may number as many as 100 individuals, and these large groups interact may with other large groups many times each month. Consequently, any given wild bonobo has an extensive matrix of social interactions that comprise his or her world. Excitement of any sort in a bonobo group is often translated into some form of genital stimulation--either self-stimulation, same-sex interactions, or opposite-sex interactions. These activities function to lesson the overall excitement and arousal level. Because bonobos do not differentiate between sexual and nonsexual behavior in the same sense that we do, juveniles and infants are often included in the embracing and thrusting encounters that typify bonobo bonding and episodes of excitement. Any discussion of the inclusion of youngsters in sociosexual interactions must, at the outset, address a clear and important difference between all aspects of human sexuality and all aspects of bonobo sexuality. Human sexuality typically takes place behind closed doors. Additionally, there are attempts, in all societies, to place some form of societal restrictions upon human sexual behavior. These restrictions may differ from society to society, and the "accepted participants" may differ as well; nonetheless, human sexuality is never expressed as part of the normal flow of social events, in full view of all other group members, of all ages and all sexes. Bonobo sexuality is typically so expressed. Bonobos, at times, engage in a fleeting encounter behind a bush, due to jealousy on the part of others, but for the most part, whatever bonobo sexuality is, it is in front of all. This fact and this fact alone is sufficient to ensure the virtual absence of what we, in our society, would term "deviant" sexual behavior. "Deviant" behavior cannot occur in full view of any group that deems it deviant, for group norms will be invoked to prohibit such actions. While bonobos are not always in sight of one another, they are in vocal contact, and the slightest call of distress from a youngster provokes a quick reaction from the mother and all the youngster's aunts and uncles. The traumatization of youngsters and infants, in any form, has never been reported among bonobos and probably would not be permitted by any adult. In addition, since there is no secrecy regarding sexual activities among adults, infants are exposed to sexuality from the day of birth, as a normal part of their social life. Their first exposure is typically that of clinging tightly to thshe engages in sexual interactions with other individuals of both sexes. Thus, infants are in a position to be embraced and thrust against by other bonobos from the day of birth, and since these experiences are a daily aspect of bonobo life, young bonobos are well indoctrinated in the cultural ways of their group by the time they are able to move about on their own. Human infants, by contrast, do not cling; rather, they are carried by the parents, often in slings, and are also put down. Even in cultures in which human infants constantly share the parents' bed while nursing, they are not pressed tightly to the mother's body, clinging to the mother while she engages in sexual interactions with the father. Nor does the human infant experience sexual encounters in this position constantly occurring before its mother begins to feed. In Western culture, sexual interactions among humans are not conducted in the presence of infants. In other cultures, sexual interactions may take place in the presence of an infant, but the infant itself does not cling to the mother and experience the sexual encounter in more or less direct fashion, as does the bonobo infant. Thus, the early sociosexual experiences of human and bonobo infants are dramatically different, and this difference quite probably leads to a radically altered understanding of the role and function of sexuality in his/her own life and relationships with other members of his/her own species. Thus, we can see that from the very beginning, human and bonobo sexuality diverge, each following a distinctly different functional and developmental trajectory. Bonobo infants continue to seek to participate in sexual encounters between adults as they get older, often shoving themselves in between a copulating pair--as was their place when they were younger. Such behaviors are tolerated by adults. Similarly, if a young bonobo cries or becomes upset, any adult or sibling (of either sex) may attempt to calm the infant by holding it against its ventrum and thrusting. This has been misconstrued as pedophilia, which it would be if it occurred in our own species. However, the infant bonobo responds to it much as a distressed human infant would respond to rocking or jiggling. The goal of the adults appears to comfort the infant, rather than to achieve sexual satisfaction for themselves. It is unfortunate that, because of what is perceived of as great "sexual license" among bonobos, another aspect of human sexuality has been incorrectly linked to bonobo sexuality--that of specialized human sexual practices associated with spirituality. Frequently referred to as "tantric" sex, such practices among humans are highly controversial. In our species, these practices are criticized both as being a religious license for promiscuity by some and as being engaged in without true spirituality by others. Whatever the correct evaluation for our own species, it is not the case that bonobos engage in practices that resemble tantric sex. There are two important aspects of tantric sexuality that distinguish it from other forms of human sexuality. The first is that sexual partners are regularly changed to prevent romantic attachment toward any one partner, as well as to decrease the sense of familiarity and ensuing lack of sexual arousal that can arise from cohabiting with a single partner. The second is that a major goal of tantric sex is to prolong the period of intense sexual excitement that precedes orgasm in order gain complete control over this physical phenomenon. Although bonobos do accept different sexual partners, there appears to be no specific motivation to do so to prevent sexual attachment or to decrease lack of sexual arousal associated with familiarity. Similarly, bonobos have never been observed to engage in any behavior that appears to be designed to increase the period of sexual arousal and prolong sexual excitation prior to orgasm. Quite the contrary, normal bonobo sexual behavior seems to be designed to facilitate speedy orgasms in both partners. There are no reports of sexual encounters being drawn out or of specific behaviors being emitted to prolong sexual interactions. Just as another recently evolved piece of equipment, our backs, sometimes fail us, our social-sexual mores sometimes fail us as well. However, when our backs do not work properly, we do not decide that our species should crawl; instead, we attempt to repair them and do our best with something that evolution did not perfectly construct. Our sexuality may be in a similar position. When our sexual desires do not seem to correspond to the strictures that we choose to place on our sexual activities, this does not mean that we should abandon all sexual restrictions and return to life as it must have been before we imposed these restrictions. Instead, we must strive to understand the ways in which our current sexual restrictions affect our imperfectly evolved sexual urges and strive to modify both in a manner that lifts up our society. Humans have chosen a different sexual path from bonobos. Theirs does not solve all of their problems and ours does not solve all of our problems. Each species can continue to improve its adaptability in this regard. Are there any similarities between human and bonobo sexuality that might have characterized our common ancestor and that might help us to understand our own sexuality today? The fact that bonobos utilize sexuality in such a wide range of circumstances suggests that our last common ancestor utilized the bonding functions of sex in activities that went far beyond the basic needs of reproduction itself. It could be that humans, as a species, have since moved in a direction that restricts sexual interactions considerably, relative to the role that they initially played in our evolution. Much of what we currently view as "sexual disorders" may derive from a relatively recent imposition of cultural restrictions upon what was, for millions of years, a manner of sexually interacting across a wide range of social settings with very few restrictions. In this regard, there is one most intriguing way in which bonobos remind us of ourselves. They give every appearance of being aware of the effect of their sexual interactions upon thes. They also appear to want their partners to enjoy sexual encounters, and they typically do notion that is not agreed to by both partners. A variety of facial expressions, gestures, and body postures are utilized to communicate their desires and feelings to other bonobos. It is in these emotional communications about sexual desire, that we can most readily relate to something that is like ourselves. Through the similarity of their emotional expression, we can begin to comprehend the bonobos' feelings and longings. We share many of the same needs for adequate and rewarding social-sexual relationships ourselves, and we express them in a similar manner. We should take note that there are no reported examples of bonobos raping other bonobos, either in captivity or in the wild. Similarly, there are no reports of bonobos engaging in infanticide or infant abuse in captivity or in the wild. In this, they differ from all other apes, including ourselves. If we truly wish to better understand bonobo sexuality, we might ask ourselves how they have used their sexual path to achieve these desirable ends, and why we ourselves have failed to do so. Why do some humans have difficulty channeling their sexuality in appropriate ways? Why do some engage in rape and child sexual abuse, and what is the attraction of pornography to some? Is it because we have unwittingly created a society that promotes sexual inhibition and thus sexual deviancy? Do our large brains and rich imaginations mean that we are bound to misuse our capacities for personal pleasure? The answers to these questions are complex, but one thing we can see as we contrast ourselves with other apes, is that we human beings are a paedamorphic species. That is to say, we are an adult ape that retains many of the characteristics of the anatomy and behavior of infant apes. Nature somehow operated upon the homeobox that controls gene expression to cause our skulls to remain open, thereby permitting our brains to continue growing and expanding far beyond the age when such growth normally ceases in other apes. One striking behavioral consequence of this anatomical event appears to be that we adult human beings, like ape children, need and seek an extraordinary amount of love. We seek it in all manner of interactions--with our parents, our families, our friends, our employers, our same-sex peers, and our opposite-sex peers. The difficulty we face is that we often are at a loss for how to express our love. In order to procreate, we must express love through direct physical interactions of our bodies. Because some of the emotions we experience when we engage in sexual procreation are so similar to those emotions of love we feel in nonreproductive contexts, we can find it difficult to distinguish between reproductive thoughts of love and other forms of love. The human species has such a need to give and express love that it will find a way, even if that avenue be one that is not "approved" by a given culture. Activities that are "disproved" by the culture inevitably lead to deceit. But love and deception are incompatible urges, and when these activities are mixed, a new type of sexual behavior arises in our species that exists in no other--one that takes the form of sexual stimulation that can be characterized as both pleasurable and yet abusive at the same time, or sadomasochistic. Some self-styled "sex therapists" have suggested that the way to avoid this problem is through the cultural acceptance and approval of all sexual practices, and they point to the bonobo as the species that should serve as humanity's guiding light in this regard. These "therapists" overlook the things that humanity would need to do to accompany such a dramatic shift. To begin, we would need to stop wearing clothes. This is more problematic than one might think. Clothing is not simply a convenience. It keeps us warm and protects our skin. It also prevents us from inadvertently expressing our sexual state when we do not wish to do so. Imagine the difficulties our species would encounter if every male erection that occurred were to arise in full view of all on every social occasion! Setting aside the obvious pragmatic problems with returning to the "bonobo way," there are other capacities we have evolved as human beings that enable us to express love in ways not available to bonobos. For example, all societies have customs of making and presenting gifts to one another as manifestations of positive emotions and intentions toward one another. These "gift-giving customs" have evolved in all human cultures into complex reciprocal economic systems that control the flow of goods and services between individuals. They set up the socioeconomic expectancies that become the matrix of provision and exchange of material wealth in every society. The very idea of possession of "material wealth" is also something that is unique to humankind. Bonobos give simple gifts of food, often immediately prior to opposite-sex sexual encounters. But human beings give many sorts of gifts, gifts we prepare with care and forethought and gifts we sometimes even endow with spiritual significance. Great love can flow into a gift as we make it and into the process of giving it to another. The kind of reciprocity that results from a well-intended, carefully made gift is something that currently has no counterpart in bonobo culture. Another example of ways that human beings have evolved to express love is through our creations of poetry, music, and painting. When normal words fail to express our deepest emotions of love, we often turn to these means. Such creative gifts can even be given to the culture at large. As human beings, we have a need to freely give and to freely receive love. Sexuality is only one way of giving and receiving love. When it becomes the only way available to us, we inevitably begin to sense that the true creative nature of our capacity for love is being bounded, captured, and even humiliated. Loving bonobos for what they are and protecting their rights and the rights of all creatures to live upon this planet can help unleash the latent creative potential within all humankind.
BPF - Bonobo Protection Fund
Bonobos Are Found in Only One Country DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Bonobos are rapidly being hunted to extinction! In 1990, scientists from around the world began to grow concerned about the future of a very rare and endangered ape, which some called "The Pygmy Chimpanzee" and others called the bonobo. This little-known ape is not really a chimpanzee, nor is it a gorilla or an orangutan. It is a very unique creature, whose anatomy resembles that of "Lucy," the most famous find of a prehuman skeleton. Like Lucy, bonobos are more bipedal than chimpanzees or gorillas. Photo by Franz Lanting Even youngsters show a proclivity for standing upright. Few people are aware of bonobos because, for a long time, scientists have argued about whether or not they are really different from chimpanzees. Most scientists now recognize that these arguments were based on lack of knowledge, rather than fact. Bonobo: The Forgoten Ape, by Frans DeWaal and Frans Lanting, clarifies the many unique behaviors of bonobos. All other apes live in small bands, with rarely more than 1 to 8 individuals seen together at one time. Bonobos, like ourselves, like to live and travel in large groups, sometimes up to 100 individuals. This means, that they, like we, have many problems to solve in order to learn how to live together peaceably. How do they all find food? Can you imagine 100 people all traveling together---that would put a burden on any surprised restaurant! Photo by Takeshi Furuichi Bonobos live in large family groups and walk single file on trails. In the forest, not many trees can feed 100 bonobos. How do they decide where to go, when to split up, when to reunite, and how do they keep from fighting over food? Bonobos seem to have developed rules to deal with such problems and they seem to have a very complex communication system, that many scientists suspect may be something like language, rather than only emotional expressions. GSU Photo A Happy Bonobo--Shaking off water after the rain We know that bonobos form strong social ties to each other though sexual interactions. Indeed, for a long time, the only thing bonobos were known for was their sexual behavior. Many humans were so overwhelmed with the freedom, intensity, and overt sexuality of the bonobo, that for a long time, discussion of this topic was limited to scientific circles. Even there, the early reports were assumed to reflect "weird" or "deviant" groups of bonobos. However, continued research has made it clear that overt sexuality is an integral part of bonobo sociality. Continued study of sexuality in bonobos, who do not share our human cultural taboos and mores, may help us to better understand the role of sex as social phenomena apart from reproduction. We already know that sexual interactions are often intermingled with long bouts of play and mutual grooming, which are additional ways of developing and strengthening social networks. To learn more about bonobo sexuality click here. Photo by Karl Ammann Grooming, or removing debris from others, relaxes and bonds bonobos. Bonobos appearances clearly make them the most human-like of all apes. Their stride, their stance, their resting postures, their gestures, and their facial expressions all look more like our own than those of chimpanzees, gorillas or orangutans. Often, in the forest, large groups of 200 to 300 individuals come together for what appear to be "visits." During such times, there is almost constant "talking" or vocal exchange, as though they are catching up on past gossip---however, we really do not know, as study of these apes is barely in its infancy. Although they have been observed since 1980, because they live in such dense forest and in such remote areas, there are still many basic things we do not know about them. We can only guess at their social structure, at the meanings of their sounds, and at the nature and richness of their mental lives. Yet, we know that they share about 99% of our genetic heritage, much or our anatomy and apparently most, and maybe all, of our emotions. Scientists will probably continue to argue about many of these issues for some time, but the real problem is that before we actually have a chance to learn about these creatures that look and act more like ourselves than any other ape they may vanish from the wild completely. Photos by Anna Clopet Bonobo smiles are like human smiles, and they return our expressions of emotions in kind. UPDATED; 06/21/00
BPF - Bonobo Protection Fund
BPF---What Has it Done? GSU Photo What Will It Do? BPF has supported conservation research in Congo since 1990. During this time, BPF members have taken the position that the situation is too dire to wait and that even though the current political situation in Congo is unstable, some efforts, small though they might be, are better than no efforts at all. GSU Photo WE ARE PULLING TOGETHER TO HELP WHEREVER WE CAN!
BPF's main focus to date has been upon the Luo Reserve, established by Dr. Kano of Japan. Though hunting of bonobos is banned throughout Congo, this law is little understood and widely disregarded without penalty. BPF's main efforts have been directed toward educating people throughout the Luo Reserve about the importance of rainforest conservation in general and of bonobos in particular. BPF representatives have distributed educational material in Lingala and French through much of the reserve, traveling on foot and by pirogue to remote areas. BPF representatives have also provided local people with many jobs in maintaining research facilities and trails for research in the forest. In return for such assistance, BPF has provided soap, salt and cloth to local villages. Even though the cost of these items is minimal by western standards, the transport of such materials to remote regions if difficult and very expensive. By providing these basic necessities, in return for assistance in conservation research work, BPF decreases the need for people of the Luo Reserve to hunt bonobos and other animals to sell on the smoked meat market. GSU Photo DON'T SMOKE ME! BPF has also conducted a small survey of the meat preferences of the people of the Luo Reserve and is currently funding a study of the dietary overlap of the people and the bonobos living in the Lomako area (a second research site). Earlier work by Dr. Kano indicated extensive overlap between human and bonobo dietary needs and forest utilization in the Luo Reserve. Competition for some plants is such that bonobos will drive away groups of human women who are foraging without males. Photo by Karl Ammann WE ARE RAPIDLY VANISHING Without BPF's constant effort since 1990, it is likely that the Bonobo Population would not have held relatively stable in the Luo Reserve. Other areas have been completely decimated of bonobos during this period. BPF desperately needs to expand the scope of its educational effort to other localities within the Congo basin as well as to major cities such as Kinshasa and Kisangani. BPF hopes to set up a permanent Conservation and Education Research Center in Kinshasa, followed by a branch center in the central Congo basin in the middle of the bonobo habitat. This center will be staffed by Congolese as well as scientists and laypersons from other countries if funds can be raised. Center personnel will travel to all parts of bonobo habitat, bringing conservation-oriented literature, video tapes, and other educational material. GSU Photo WE NEED SOME RIGHTS TOO! BPF promotes the concept of "Wildlife Rights" to replace "Logging Rights." Logging companies buy rights to large tracts of land in the central Congolese basin. Roads are then cut to log trees. These roads provide easy access for hunters with guns, and easy access for return of smoked meat to areas of trade. In addition, much wildlife habitat is destroyed as the largest trees are felled. If "Wildlife Rights" were purchased by international groups such as BPF, Congolese could still benefit from the sales of "Rights," but they could, as well, continue to benefit from the forests in which they live and on which they currently depend for their livelihood. The rest of the world would benefit as well, for "Wildlife Rights"maintain wildlife and forests for future generations to come, while "logging rights" bring only a one-time profit. Logging rights present a short-term gain for a few dollars in exchange for a permanent loss of irreplaceable forests. "Wildlife Rights," by contrast, permit an indefinite long-term gain that can only increase in value as forest and animals become more precious over all the earth. UPDATED; 03/20/00
INTRODUCTION There is a significant overlap in size between the Bonobo, P. paniscus, and the Chimpanzee, P. troglodytes. The weight of the Bonobo is also similar to that of the Chimpanzee: female Bonobos weigh an average of 33 kg and males 45 kg.5,6 The Bonobo differs from the Chimpanzee in body proportions; Bonobos are more gracile in build, with a smaller, rounder skull, and a flatter face with less-prominent brow ridges. The young are born with a black face and hands, and small ears that are hidden behind distinctive side whiskers. As adults, the Bonobo retains a prominent tail tuft that Chimpanzees have only as juveniles.5 The Bonobo is a highly social animal, with groups usually based upon a female member and her male offspring.11 Bonobos can peacefully exist in large groups sometimes with as many as a hundred members; generally groups of Bonobos forage together.6 In contrast, Chimpanzees can be relatively aggressive, infanticide and killing of males by males (behaviour not recorded in Bonobos) have been reported; female Chimpanzees will often retreat with their infants to forage alone, avoiding bullying by the larger males or other females.6 Bonobos have been recorded using a variety of forest types including primary and secondary forests. Although the optimal Bonobo habitat has yet to be established, high densities are known in secondary forest on dry ground.3,15 Fruit comprises the majority of the diet but leaves, pith, flowers, seeds and invertebrates are also eaten.3 Bonobos have been observed to eat small mammals, although unlike Chimpanzees, they have rarely been seen actively hunting for meat.3,6 Female Bonobos become sexually mature at thirteen years of age. Gestation period is thought to be between 220 and 230 days. They normally give birth to single young, with five year intervals between each; infants are nursed until they are four years old.11 In contrast to the Chimpanzee, male offspring will stay with the mother's group for life, whilst females leave the maternal group for another band at maturity.6 DISTRIBUTION The Bonobo has a discontinuous distribution in the central Zaïre basin, south of the Zaïre River. It occurs between the Zaïre River, the Lomami River, the Kasai/Sankuru Rivers, and the Lake Tumba / Lac Ndombe region, although it appears to be absent from the central part of this area between the Momboyo River and the Busira River.3 It had been thought that the species' range was continuous within this large forest zone, totalling approximately 350,000 km2, but field observations since the 1970s indicate that it is absent or rare in many areas and common only in a few scattered localities.3 Studies in the last decade have confirmed viable populations only near the towns of Befale, Djolu, Bokungu and Ikela, and in a 3,000 km2 area between the Yekokora and Lomako Rivers.3 POPULATION No reliable estimates of total numbers are yet available. Detailed knowledge of Bonobo populations is difficult to obtain, largely because of the problems of survey work in forest habitats. Bonobos exist in scattered populations over an extensive area. It is not known if any region supports exceptionally dense populations. Speculative estimates based on extrapolation of Chimpanzee densities to areas of Bonobo habitat suggest a total of 100,000-200,000.2 However, estimates based on field study suggest that fewer than 25,000 and more likely 10,000 to 20,000 survive in areas of suitable habitat.4,16 THREATS The Bonobo is threatened by both habitat loss and hunting. Since the 1970s, increasing human populations have forced the Bonobo to retreat into remote forest areas. Traditional slash-and-burn agriculture and commercial forestry operations are continuing to expand in central Zaïre, eliminating suitable Bonobo habitat, especially near villages and roads. When the habitat is disturbed, Bonobos will tend to leave the region.3 Few domestic animals are kept by resident people; many are dependent on wildlife for a large proportion of the protein in their diet. Subsistence hunting, and commercial hunting of 'bushmeat' to supply large labour forces employed by companies in the area, are widespread in central Zaïre.3 In addition, the Bonobo is occasionally hunted for traditional medicinal or magical purposes; specific body parts are thought to enhance strength and sexual vigour. Such charms are widely available in some parts of Zaïre, suggesting that large numbers of Bonobos may be killed annually. Hunting may therefore be an important factor underlying the species' fragmented distribution.3 Bonobos are especially vulnerable to the increasing use of firearms, since they flee into trees which can be easily surrounded.3 Infant Bonobos are captured for the local wildlife trade after killing the mother, and are kept as pets. Small numbers are illegally traded with European countries (particularly Belgium) and the Far East.3 Infants and juveniles are currently sold to zoological gardens, laboratories in Europe and Asia, and for the pet trade.3 CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES The Salonga National Park, Zaïre: Established in 1970 partly for the protection of Bonobos. Although the park is 365,600 km2 in size, it does not appear to hold good numbers of Bonobo compared to areas such as Lomako and Wamba3 but recent surveys indicate that Bonobo are still present in significant numbers in the N.E.Sector.16 The Lomako Forest: The area contains a reasonably large and viable population of Bonobo, has good forest cover, is remote, occupies an area of 3,100 km2 bounded by rivers, and has a low human population density.3,5 The local people only sporadically enter the forest while hunting for bushmeat, but do not kill Bonobos.3 A long-term study project on the Bonobo is continuing (principally by the State University of New York at Stony Brook under the auspices of the Institut de Recherche Scientifique (IRS)).3,5 The isolation of Lomako, in a large block of uninhabited forest, has given at least some protection from human pressure, but hunting pressure and exploitation of timber resources are increasing.5 It has been proposed to protect the area as a National Park, but no progress has been made.5 Wamba Village, Equateur Province: Wamba was identified in the late 1970s as a site ideally suited to Bonobo study. A project is run by a team from the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University, also under the auspices of the IRS.3,5 The local Mongandu people do not hunt Bonobos. Many of the local people are involved in fieldwork, eg. as trackers. A key difference between Wamba and Lombako is that the Bonobo at Wamba are provided with sugarcane to attract them to the study site.5 At Wamba in 1987, soldiers attempted to collect Bonobo infants as gifts for foreign dignitaries. Some adult Bonobos were killed.5 As at Lomako, logging and agricultural interests threaten the forest area.5 Other recent studies of this species have been undertaken at Lake Tumba (where intensive hunting occurs) and Yalosidi.3,8 The most urgently-required conservation measure is the establishment of at least one well protected park or reserve specifically for the Bonobo, following an extensive survey of its range and thorough study of its habitat requirements.3,16 Revised African Primate Action Plan:10 An updated IUCN/Species Survival Commission Action Plan for African Primate Conservation was published in 1996- In addition, an Action Plan for Bonobos has recently been published.17 The Bonobo is nominally protected by national legislation in Zaïre, but this is not enforced. It is listed in Class A of the African Convention and on Appendix I of the 1973 Convention on International trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES). 131001 1939 THAT HAS OBVIOUSLY COME FROM ANOTHER SITE --- I HOPE YOU BENEFIT FROM ITS REPRODUCTION HERE, ON MY SITE (“THE MARTIAN EMBASSY.COM”). onsdag 17. oktober 2001 19:14 I will of course seek permission to have all that on my own site, but I hope they will say alright, so more people will see it and help the apes. The Bonobo Protection Fund Language Research Center Georgia State University Foundation University Plaza Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3083 USA 1(404) 244 5825 (voice) 1(404) 244 5752 (fax)
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