Today’s Primate Party features a gem of a blog that I came across earlier this week. Bonobo Handshake describes the current field research of Vanessa Woods and her colleagues at a bonobo sanctuary in Congo. It’s full of amazing stories and photos, including the two I’ve borrowed for this post. I read the entire thing from start to finish on Wednesday morning and missed my workout… again. My childhood dreams of field research are reawakened!
If you’re not familiar with bonobos, the stereotype is that they’re a less violent, hornier relative of the more familiar chimpanzee. Social co-operation through lots of sex. (If you work with a bunch of prudes you might prefer to read her blog at home.) Unfortunately, I started reading the blog just as the research team left the bonobo sanctuary, but the good news is that they’re moving on to study chimps (the cute little dudes in the second photo.) Less sex, more fights?
