Bonobo

Description:

The bonobo is an endangered great ape, endemic to humid equatorial forests of DRC. The bonobo, looking very much alike as chimpanzee, was also formerly called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee. The two species actually broadly overlap in body size, but the bonobo apepars more gracile than the common chimpanzee. Adult female bonobos are somewhat smaller than adult males. The bonobo's head is relatively smaller than that of the common chimpanzee with less prominent brow ridges above the eyes. It has a black face with pink lips, small ears, wide nostrils, and long hair on its head that forms a part. The bonobo also has a slim upper body, narrow shoulders, thin neck, and long legs when compared to the common chimpanzee. Their body mass ranges from 34 to 60 kg for males, against an average of 30 kg in females. The total length of bonobos (from the nose to the rump while on all fours) is 70 to 83 cm, while when standing upright they can reach to over a 1 meter. (adapted from Wikipedia)

Habitat:

Bonobos are both terrestrial and arboreal, and live in tropical humid forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo of central Africa. They are endemic to river Congo bassin, and can be found only in an area covering some 500.000km², delimited by the banks of the Congo River in the north and Kasai River (a tributary of the Congo) in the South.

Notes:

I visited the Bonobo Sanctuary (Lola ya Bonobo or "Bonobo paradise"), located in suburbs of Kishasa, several times and was delighted every time when I managed to see these beautiful apes. The Sanctuary is providing care and rehabilitation to young apes orphaned by illegal trade in endangered wildlife, before releasing them in their natural habitat. It is important to note the name of Mme Claudine André, who started this sanctuary, and, with her team is doing a tremendous job in the country that neglect all environment and wildlife protection laws. These photos are rather old now, but that first photo in this series still marks me and I remember with delight of that rare moment when I fell, totally by chance, very close to this young male and we spent an intense moment looking into each other eyes. It was really beautiful experience.