Bonobos ( Pan paniscus ), also known as pygmy chimpanzees, are endangered great apes that share 98.7% of our genetic makeup. They inhabit a 500,000 km2 (190,000 sq mi) area within the Congo Basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Central Africa. Bonobos are crucial to the health of their rainforest habitat, distributing seeds and nutrients as they feed on fruits and vegetation. This article explores the diet of bonobos, examining their food preferences, foraging behaviors, and adaptations to their environment.
What Bonobos Eat
Bonobos are omnivorous frugivores, meaning their diet consists of both plants and animals, with a strong emphasis on fruit. Fruit is the main food bonobos eat, though they also consume many other plant parts, such as nuts, stems, shoots, leaves, and roots. Their preferred food is ripe fruit, which can constitute between 70-93% of their diet when fruit is readily available, depending on the season and location. Bonobos have taste receptors for sweetness, similar to humans, and are thus attracted to sugar, which provides fast, high-energy food.
Fruit Consumption
When it is plentiful, fruit can make up over half of a bonobo’s diet. Some of their favorite fruits include:
- Velvet tamarind ( Dialium trees ): These trees produce grape-sized brown fruits.
- Figs: A large fig tree can keep an entire group occupied for several days.
- Sugar plum ( Uapaca guineesis ): These trees produce small green fruit.
- Pancovia laurentii: This plant has clusters of berry-sized orange-yellow fruit.
- Anonidium mannii (junglesop): These plants produce giant fruits.
It's worth noting that fruit in their range is low in sugar and high in fiber, unlike the fruit we eat.
Other Plant Matter
The second biggest part of the bonobo’s healthy diet is what the experts call Terrestrial Herbaceous Vegetation, or THV. Leaves and young shoots are the biggest portion of this, but bonobos will also eat pith, the soft tissue in stems of plants, as well as seeds and flowers. This may make up about 30% of a wild bonobo’s diet.
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Meat Consumption
Very little is known about the diet and meat consumption of bonobos ( Pan paniscus ), although they are known to eat a lot of ripe fruit and also consume meat. Bonobos do eat meat on occasion, which could be a good source of protein for them.
Opportunistic Eating
Bonobos are opportunistic eaters, with about 3% of their diet made up of a hodgepodge of foods. They have been documented eating honey, termites, mushrooms, and insect larvae, which could provide nutrients they don’t get in other foods. In one case, researchers watched a bonobo eat a butterfly! All of these foods (except perhaps for butterflies) are also eaten by humans.
Bonobo Foraging Behavior
Bonobos travel in small groups, usually made up of a few individuals. These groups change often throughout the day as small parties come together to eat, rest, and play. All of these parties are considered part of one large community. At night, members of the bonobo community tend to gather together. This type of changing social structure is called "fission fusion." The size of a bonobo party can vary based on food availability and can range from seven to twenty individuals. Overall, a bonobo community usually has around 25 to 75 members.
Seasonal Variation and Fallback Foods
Bonobos, like chimpanzees, might be particularly vulnerable to habitat fragmentation because of their high dependence on fruit availability. Bonobos have adapted to fragmented habitats by feeding on only a few fruit species, including an important number of non‐tree species (liana, herb, and savannah shrub), in comparison to populations living in dense forests. These non‐tree plants have been defined as fallback and non‐preferred foods, which are most probably consumed to maintain high frugivory. Interestingly, preferred foods are all typical of mature forests, while fallback resources are mainly found in forest edges or disturbed areas.
Dietary Adjustments in Fragmented Habitats
Studying feeding ecology in fragments provides the opportunity to examine the plasticity of primate foraging behavior and to gain a better understanding of the resilience of primates living in these environments. Bonobos, like chimpanzees, may be particularly vulnerable to fragmented environments and shifts in ecological conditions because of their high dependence on fruit availability. Indeed, both species are known to maintain their frugivorous habits even in periods of fruit scarcity through various adaptive responses.
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Identifying the fallback foods (FBF) of primates living in fragmented environments is important because their exploitation may allow primates to subsist in higher densities than otherwise possible. In contrast to preferred foods that are consumed disproportionately relative to their abundance in the habitat, FBFs are defined as the resources consumed when the abundance of preferred foods decline. FBFs are also typically lower in energy than preferred foods.
Bonobo Social Structure and Feeding
A group of bonobos is always led by a dominant female. Females are known to form strong bonds and work together to keep the peace, especially if male members of the group become aggressive. A male's social status is often determined by his mother. Bonobos do not frequently show typical displays that demonstrate dominance or submission. Generally, high status seems to be based on seniority.
Female bonobos more often than not secure feeding privileges and feed before males do, and although they are rarely successful in one-on-one confrontations with males, a female bonobo with several allies supporting her has extremely high success in monopolizing food sources.
Threats to Bonobo Diet and Habitat
Several factors threaten the bonobo population and their food sources:
- Hunting and Poaching: Humans are the only verified predators of bonobos. Hunting, capturing, and eating bonobos is illegal, but poaching is still common. People hunt them for their meat or believe their body parts have medicinal purposes.
- Deforestation: Another significant threat to bonobos is deforestation. Large-scale farming, like palm oil plantations, destroys thousands of acres of forest.
- Civil Unrest: Due to war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, illegal activities in the national parks have continued unchecked. Locals depend on the wildlife for protein - even if it’s meat from endangered species. The civil strife has also caused an increase of destruction and degradation to the bonobo habitat.
Bonobo Conservation
Several conservation efforts are in place to protect bonobos and their habitat. These include:
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- Protected Areas: Even though many bonobos live in national parks and other protected areas, these places usually do not have enough resources or strong law enforcement to keep them safe.
- Sustainable Practices: Support certified products, like wood from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and palm oil from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). These certifications show that the products are made in ways that do not harm rainforests.
- E-waste Recycling: Consider recycling your old cell phones, tablets, and laptops through certified e-waste programs. The minerals used in electronics, like coltan, are often mined in places where bonobos live.
Lessons from the Bonobo Diet
People everywhere could take a few lessons from the bonobo diet:
- Eat More Fruits and Vegetables: Doctors and nutritionists have been telling us for decades we should eat more fruit and vegetables, so this is an easy improvement to our diet.
- Eat Local and Seasonal Food: Wild bonobos eat food from their area, and there are benefits to us doing this, too. By doing this we reduce transportation costs and emissions, as well as support the farmers in our local communities.
- Take Time to Enjoy Your Food: Put some time and effort into your food and invite a friend to prepare and eat it with you.