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A bonobo observes its surroundings from the canopy in Salonga National Park. Earning the trust of wild bonobos is a painstaking process that begins before dawn and can take years to achieve. Photo by Alice Péretié / Chengeta Wildlife.

Before tourists can see bonobos, trackers must earn their trust

Rhett Ayers Butler 23 Jun 2026
Bonobos in Salonga National Park, the largest tropical rainforest national park in Africa. Researchers are working to habituate wild bonobos to human presence in an effort to support conservation and scientific research. Photo by Alice Péretié / Chengeta Wildlife.

Four years to earn their trust: Habituating bonobos in DRC’s Salonga National Park

David Akana 11 Jun 2026
An observation of aggression in zoo-housed bonobos

In zoos, ‘peaceful’ bonobos are just as aggressive as chimps, study suggests

Megan Strauss 9 Apr 2026
Banner image of Kanzi by William H. Calvin via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Bonobos keep track of groupmates even when they can’t see them, study finds

Bobby Bascomb 20 Aug 2025
Banner image of the Ekalakala bonobo group in the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve in the DRC courtesy of Martin Surbeck/Kokolopori Bonobo Research Project.

Female bonobos wield power through unity: Study

Kristine Sabillo 3 Jun 2025
Bonobos in the DRC’s Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve. Image courtesy of Maud Mouginot.

Bonobos combine calls in ways that resemble human language, study finds

Shanna Hanbury 8 Apr 2025
Kanzi, the bonobo, died aged 44 in March 2025. Image ©️Ape Initiative.

Kanzi the bonobo redefined what it means to be human

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 Apr 2025
Banner image of Kanzi by William H. Calvin via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Famous bonobo Kanzi, known for smarts & gaming, dies at age 44

Kristine Sabillo 27 Mar 2025
A young orangutan grasps and hangs on to a woody liana.

As apes adapt to human disturbance, their new behaviors also put them at risk: Study

Charles Mpaka 24 Mar 2025

Bonobo numbers in DRC park stable, but signs of decline appear

Shreya Dasgupta 10 Jan 2025
Bonobo with a thumb on his mouth

Study finds bonobos more diverse, and more vulnerable, than previously thought

Charles Mpaka 4 Nov 2024

Africa’s great ape sanctuaries are feeling the heat from climate change

Tina Deines 5 Jul 2024
Bonobos in the DRC’s Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve. Image courtesy of Maud Mouginot.

Bonobos, the ‘hippy apes’, may not be as peaceful as once thought

Ryan Truscott 12 Apr 2024
Two chimpanzees interacting playfully.

No joking: Great apes can be silly and playfully tease each other, finds study

Spoorthy Raman 8 Mar 2024
A Müller's gibbon.

Male dominance isn’t the default in primate societies, new study shows

Tina Deines 4 Mar 2024
Bonobos and chimps recall friends and family even after years apart: Study

Bonobos and chimps recall friends and family even after years apart: Study

Malavika Vyawahare 15 Jan 2024
A female bonobo.

DRC’s endangered bonobos face another threat to their survival: malaria

Ryan Truscott 22 Mar 2023
A bonobo

Easygoing bonobos accepting of outsiders, study says

Charles Mpaka 10 Oct 2022
A chimpanzee in the Congo rainforests

Data from droppings: Researchers draw up a genetic ID map for chimps

Charles Mpaka 1 Jul 2022
An infant bonobo photographed a few days after being released in the Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve. Image courtesy by Cinita Garai/ Friends of Bonobos.

Bonobos torn from the wild make their return, with a helping hand

Malavika Vyawahare 7 Apr 2022

Warming climate means scientists may have overcounted bonobos, study says

Aimee Gabay 22 Jul 2021

For Africa’s great apes, even ‘best-case’ climate change will decimate habitat

Shreya Dasgupta 13 Jul 2021

For Africa’s great apes, a post-pandemic future looks beyond tourism

Heather Richardson 9 Jun 2021

Caring for those ‘just like us’: Q&A with vet and great ape advocate Rick Quinn

Mongabay.com 20 Apr 2021

Images from a dropped phone reveal the ugly truth behind bonobo trafficking

Mireya Mayor 23 Apr 2020

Bonobo conservation stymied by deforestation, human rights abuses

Taran Volckhausen 24 Oct 2019

Inside an ambitious project to rewild trafficked bonobos in the Congo Basin

Christopher Clark 11 Jun 2019
A juvenile bonobo (Pan paniscus) gazes at an uncertain future.

Back into the Wild: Ekola ya Bonobo sanctuary reintroduces bonobos to the Congo Basin forests

Christopher Clark, Shaun Swingler 14 Apr 2019

DRC set to reclassify national parks for oil, open rainforest to logging

John Vidal 19 Jul 2018

Conservation lessons from the bonobos

Kim Harrisberg 1 May 2017

DRC declares first new national park in 40 years

Morgan Erickson-Davis 12 Jul 2016

Disease prevention a boost to human health and great ape conservation

Elizabeth Devitt 21 Apr 2016

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