Page 16 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #02

WILD NEWS

DISCOVER
RIES

Written by
STUART
gdom.
The latest in scientific research from all over the animal king d BLACKMAN

Good samaritans: like
humans, bonobos will
go out of their way to
help another in need.

Q PRIMATES
YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME

UNLIKE CHIMPANZEES, BONOBOS ARE “PROSOCIAL” – THEY WILL HELP A COMPLETE STRANGER IN NEED.

umans are usually only of fruit from a rope USA. “In return they you may meet them again,
DID YOU KNOW?
too happy to help – even in one room that had no immediate and this individual could
Q Bonobos and
Hcomplete strangers, and could only be released selfish benefits.” become your future friend
chimpanzees diverged
even to our own inconvenience. from an adjacent about a million years Such “prosocial” or ally. You want to be nice
Chimps aren’t. Chimps rarely room, separated by a ago following the behaviour sits well to someone who’s going to
tolerate the presence of strangers, fence. Bonobos in the formation of the with the image of be important for you.
Congo river. Chimps
let alone go out of their way for second room would bonobos as peace- “Human cooperative
live to the north of the
them. But their closest cousins, make considerable river, bonobos to the loving egalitarians. behaviour is still much more
bonobos, are more like us, efforts to release south. Both species Chimps are far less flexible, more risky, more
according to new research. the food for an are poor swimmers. socially spirited. Tan complicated and at a larger
Experiments conducted at unfamiliar individual says that they behave scale,” Tan told BBC Wildlife.
Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary in in the first room. so aggressively to strangers that “But we have more similarities
“They gave up playing-time,
the Democratic Republic of the walked across the room, it’s not even possible to perform with our great ape cousins
than we previously thought,
these experiments on them.
Congo show that bonobos are
Fiona Rogers/naturepl.com willing to put themselves out climbed up, held their body longer game, which involves in terms of our prosocial
Bonobos seem to play a
predispositions.”
with one arm and reached
to help strangers gain access to
through narrow mesh to help
making a good first impression.
food even though they get none
“All relationships start between
with the other arm,” says
of it for themselves.
SOURCE Scientific Reports
February 2018
BBC Wildlife
16 The researchers hung a piece Jingzhi Tan of Duke University, two strangers,” says Tan. “But LINK http://go.nature.com/2BTheY6