Endangered Species-Bonobo’s
The bonobo is part of the ape family and used to be called the pygmy chimpanzee. Humans are closely related to the Bonobo, sharing 98.7% of our DNA.
Females are the dominant’s of groups of Bonobo’s, it is never male. Having dominant females affects the key differences between other apes social behavior. Bonobos avoid fighting, it has never been recorded that a bonobo has killed another Bonobo. When there is tension instead of a release of a hormone like testosterone, bonobos had an increase in cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone associated with stress. So when there is tension Bonobo’s do not get physical in a violent way but a loving way. They are known to be huggers, this is a way of for them to receive social reassurance.
Bonobos live only in one country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. They live in the Congo Basin, which is a huge forest.
However, the bushmeat trade has left them vulnerable to hunting. Bonobos are the most endangered great ape. No one is sure how many are left in the wild, but it could be as few as 5,000.
In the rain forest,where Bonobo's live there are a vast amount of plants. These plants depend on Bonobo’s to disperse their seeds. During its life, each bonobo will ingest and disperse nine tons of seeds.These seeds will travel 24 hours in the bonobo digestive tract, which will transfer them over several kilometers, few species could replace bonobos in terms of seed dispersal services.
Bonbo conservation efforts: http://www.bonobo.org/