The great apes are the closest living relatives to humans. We share over ninety-eight percent of our DNA with some species of these creatures, and it’s valuable to think of ourselves as being more alike with these creatures than otherwise. Bonobo apes are very similar to the more widely recognized chimpanzees—a smaller species of ape native to the Congo region of Africa and extensively studied due to their complex social structures and cooperative behavior.
But you don’t need to be a scientist to recognize how similar these animals are to humans. All you need to do is watch this video of a baby Bonobo finding her best angles and smiling for the camera.
Meet Daisy, a five month old Bonobo living at the Cincinnati Zoo with her mom, Gilda. Daisy is quickly becoming a media sensation due to her adorable appearance and natural affinity for the limelight. Frankly, the camera just loves her. Move over Moo Deng, there’s a new baby animal for the internet to love.
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Bonobo Babies
Bonobos like Daisy typically stay with their moms for four or five years in the wild, so Daisy has a lot of growing to do before she’s ready to be on her own. During this period of time, her mother is in nearly constant contact with her, grooming and feeding here and carrying her around on her back.
Bonobos live in large matriarchal societies where there is some overlap with caring for their youngsters. The zoo also recently welcomed another mother Bonobo as well as her ten year old son, bringing the zoo’s total to twelve bonobos.
Bonobos at the Zoo
Bonobos are not as common a sight in American zoos as other species of ape. They have a body type that researchers most often liken to that they attribute to the now extinct line of close-human relatives the Australopithecus, and are often seen standing on two feet. They are considered to be both terrestrial animals as well as arboreal, which may lead to their bipedal behavior. They are leaner in body shape than their close relatives the chimpanzees, and have darker skin on their faces.
In their native region, Bonobos are extremely endangered due to human activity, particularly poaching and habitat destruction. For a long time, they were known as the “peaceful ape” due to the lack of observance of them participating in the kind of interspecies violence marked by other primates, including humans. Their society is matriarchal in nature, and they have a complex social structure with elaborate networks of relationships and sexual roles.
Daisy and her sweet smile are doing nothing to dispel those rumors of Bonobos being the nicest primates out there.
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