Bonobos Classified as the “Pan paniscus” (Bonobos Exhibit), Bonobos are, genetically, the closest living relative to Humans, “sharing 98.7% of their DNA” (Bonobo Species). A little less than 100 years ago, the (descriptive word) monkey was commonly mistaken for “dwarf chimpanzees” (Myrtille Guillon). Comparatively to the chimpanzee, bonobos are much smaller, the misconception arose since the common chimpanzee and bonobos share a similar environment, separated only by the Congo river. Many people believed they were the same type of chimpanzee but the Bonobos were smaller because their food sources were more scarce causing them to not grow to their full potential. Instead, bonobos and chimpanzees evolved from a “common ancestor over 1 million years ago” (Myrtille Guillon). Shockingly enough, “bonobos weren’t recognized as a separate species until 1929” (Bonobo Species) and were the last great ape to be discovered. Extremely limited localization of
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It is very uncommon to find wild bonobos hunting other animals, especially small mammals. Although, despite this rarity, it has been recorded of happening before. Gottfried Hohmann, an anthropologist at the Max Planck Institute “observed one bonobo group hunting small monkeys at the Lui Kotal study site near the Salonga National Park.”(Bonobo Conservation Initiative). In other words, the semi-deciduous forest that support the bonobos is being wiped out. With the destruction of their limited habitat we are annihilating not only their homes but also their main food supply. Clearly, if one species in an ecosystem is suffering, others are slowly following in their footsteps. The world cannot allow the species to go extinct since the whole food web in the African continent would be disrupted, possibly
It is very uncommon to find wild bonobos hunting other animals, especially small mammals. Although, despite this rarity, it has been recorded of happening before. Gottfried Hohmann, an anthropologist at the Max Planck Institute “observed one bonobo group hunting small monkeys at the Lui Kotal study site near the Salonga National Park.”(Bonobo Conservation Initiative). In other words, the semi-deciduous forest that support the bonobos is being wiped out. With the destruction of their limited habitat we are annihilating not only their homes but also their main food supply. Clearly, if one species in an ecosystem is suffering, others are slowly following in their footsteps. The world cannot allow the species to go extinct since the whole food web in the African continent would be disrupted, possibly