Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
try's history was essential. At the center of BCI's vision was the bonobo. As one of humanity's
two closest living relatives, the bonobo was—Sally told me—important for our understanding of
ourselves as humans: not only in terms of where we have come from and how we have evolved, but
also in terms of what we can be.
Though I had read articles noting all that great apes might teach us about our evolution, none
had said anything about how they could shed light on our future. They were often portrayed in
simplistic terms. Bonobos were furry sex addicts that swung both ways, and chimpanzees waged
war as best an ape could without modern weapons and the cold mathematics of organized armies.
Gorillas were vegetarians, largely gentle despite gladiator physiques, and orangutans solitary forest
creatures that paired up only for sex, a lifestyle that sounded uncomfortably similar to that of many
writers. What those articles didn't lead me to expect was the degree to which my research on
bonobos would in fact change how I understood myself. While I would learn that their social struc-
ture did offer lessons in the origins of human nature, it also said a great deal about our potential,
both as individuals and as a species, and the paths we might choose.
Just seeing photos of bonobos made a strong impression on me. They have lustrous black skin
and red lips, black hair neatly parted in the middle and descending like muttonchops, flaring out
proudly in the style of Martin Van Buren. But it was the way they looked at the camera that I found
unforgettable. The bonobos' eyes appeared curious and contemplative, unlike the often aggressive,
guarded look I'd found common in chimpanzees. No doubt this was reductive and I had a lot to
learn, but I saw in the gaze of the bonobo evidence of a deeply social being that, if it could speak,
might have a number of questions for me.
Other photographs showed bonobos in a variety of familiar postures: lounging on their backs,
one leg crossed over the other; or mating in the missionary position, muscles taut in their arms, the
male grinning as if life couldn't be better; or a mother standing, staring off, holding sugarcane, head
poised on a stretched neck. With their long, slender limbs, they appeared so humanlike that, just to
get a sense of proportion, I had to look up their weight: one hundred pounds for males—a little less
than chimpanzees—and seventy for females. It was difficult to imagine such a close relative being
hunted for the bushmeat trade, thousands slaughtered during the two Congo wars between 1996 and
2003, possibly as few as five thousand remaining.
Both because of their highly sexual nature and because one has never been witnessed killing
another of its own kind, bonobos have recently become the stars of the great ape world. Even oran-
gutan males, when battling over females, occasionally deliver fatal wounds, as do silverback gor-
illas. Gorillas sometimes kill infants, and for chimpanzees this can be a matter of course. Domin-
ant chimpanzee mothers do away with the children of others, and males wage all-out wars, then
slaughter the infants and take the females for their own, a description that reads like any of a million
lines out of human history.
Bonobo society, however, is matriarchal. Females forge the alliances, and a male's rank depends
on that of his mother. When groups meet, males hoot but stand back while females cross over to one
another in what may end up resembling an orgy. As for infanticide, it has never been witnessed; all
bonobos in the group care for the welfare of their young. They have been nicknamed the “hippies
of the forest” and the “Left Bank ape,” owing to where they live in relation to the Congo River.
Unlike other great apes, they use a variety of sexual positions and often mate face-to-face, gazing
into each other's eyes. They enjoy oral sex and French kissing, and they make love for pleasure,
comfort, or closeness, as a means of greeting, or just because they love each other. Sex is their hug,
