14 DAY TRIAL // One of the things that separate humans from bonobos, but not from chimpanzees, is violence. While the latter species have it, and display it plentifully, bonobos don't. These primates essentially live in a non-violent world.
Researchers have been wondering about how they were able to do so for a while, but research into this issue is taking up a lot of time. What experts are trying to do is basically learn how bonobos think.
These animals are a species of chimpanzees, but, unlike their cousins, they do not kill their own kind, or wage wars with each other. While it's true that both species display empathy, in the case of bonobos this is taken way further than in chimps.
Duke University assistant professor in evolutionary anthropology Brian Hare and his wife Vanessa Woods have been studying these creatures for many years, with support from the US National Science Foundation (NSF).
They conduct their research in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the only place in the world where these primates can be found. But studies are tough to carry out, due to a raging civil war.
“We go to this sanctuary [in the DRC] and we play these fun problem-solving games with them to just try and get inside their heads and figure out exactly how they think,” Woods explains.
“They're wonderful animals to be related to. It's a shame so few people have heard of them,” she adds. There has never been a recorded case in captivity or in the wild of a bonobo killing another bonobo,” Hare says further.
“Chimpanzees can be very empathetic, loving but they also have this darker side. They have war, they kill each other, they beat their females. Bonobos don't really have any of that,” Woods go on to say.
The expert says that witnessing how bonobos interact can be a very humbling experience, especially considering that humans have had access to intelligence and technology for centuries, and continue to fail at conflict resolution.
The two main methods that the bonobo society uses to solve problems is to have intercourse, and to share more. If one member of the group is upset, then the others would literally come and hug or comfort it until everything is better.
“Humans are probably the most generous species on the planet,” Hare says, adding however that our dark sides are more like the chimps'.
“Bonobos don't have a darker side. So, although they can't fly to the Moon, they don't kill each other. I think they challenge your normal notion of what intelligence is. I think we have a lot to learn from them,” the anthropologist concludes.