This sanctuary in DRC wants to save bonobos from extinction

Brut America

The one and only bonobo sanctuary in the world is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There, these great apes are protected so they can thrive.   Our reporter Charles Villa visited Lola ya Bonobo.

Transcript

00:00If we don't take care of it, it will completely disappear for humanity.

00:19Bonobo is a species that only lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, nowhere

00:45else in the world, and that is in danger of extinction because it is threatened by

00:52poaching and deforestation.

00:55Bonobos are part of the family of great apes, and there are four in the world.

01:00We have the gorilla, the chimpanzee, the orang-outan, and finally the bonobo.

01:07What is special about the bonobo is that it is genetically the closest cousin of man,

01:12with 99% of its behavior.

01:19The bonobo is considered to be an animal that lives in a very developed and well-structured

01:44social structure, but it is also considered to be the most peaceful of the great apes.

01:48The bonobos have a dispute to negotiate by sexual approach.

01:54They get together, they make love during the war, and it involves the males, the females,

02:00the big ones and the little ones.

02:02All the individuals in the group are involved because every time there is a stress in the

02:05group, they have to calm down.

02:07In the society of bonobos, they are females who lead.

02:11They are dominant and powerful.

02:13The goal is to maintain good cohesion, discipline, especially between the males.

02:23With the evolution of testosterone that they have as they grow, it means that the males

02:28have to measure themselves.

02:29The females are there to make peace, to maintain calm, to discipline those who try to show

02:35that they are higher, and to maintain a balance.

02:44Their reproduction is slow and difficult.

02:48The females give birth to a baby every five years of their life.

02:53And as they enter sexual maturity at the age of about 12, they have the chance to have

02:58only 4 to 5 babies in their entire life, given that the spacing is 5 years, and that the

03:04life expectancy goes up to 50 to 60 years.

03:14These are babies who are psychologically traumatized because of the death of their mother

03:19in the wild.

03:20They experience the same shock as a war-victim.

03:23Bonobos babies let themselves die without their mother because the birth depends entirely

03:29on the maternal presence.

03:31And to be able to resolve this trauma, the only initiative is to find them a mother

03:38who, thanks to the affection and maternal love they give them, manages to forget the shock,

03:45the trauma, all the pain they have experienced.

03:57They play all the time, it doesn't stop.

03:59They are full of energy.

04:01Playing is normally a behavior that is experienced until adulthood among bonobos.

04:06And as long as they are small, this is the primary activity, after feeding.

04:19Here, paradise, in fact, primarily ensures this psychological rehabilitation of orphans

04:25in order to allow a good growth, a good aptitude, a good rehabilitation in the social

04:32environment until they are brought back into the wild.

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