Plans to Save Sex-Crazy Apes
“Pygmy chimpanzees known as jungle hippies because they resolve conflict through sex rather than fighting are hurtling towards extinction faster than any other primate, experts say. Bonobos, gentle creatures found only in the war-torn forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, live in strictly matriarchal families and neither kill nor fight over territory. They pair off for sex at the slightest hint of danger, stress or friction, and this policy of ‘making love not war’ has resulted in their nickname. They are among man’s closest relatives and face the prospect of being the first great ape to be wiped out.” —Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Because these apes are being threatened with extinction, officials in the Congo have created a sanctuary for them near Kinshasa. Another article describes a ceremony marking the sanctuary’s opening:
“In front of about 20 ministers and delegates visiting the sanctuary and who have come to Kinshasa for an international conference on the great apes, Andre explained how the bonobos were ‘incapable of surviving without affection’. It’s feeding time at the sanctuary, and with the distribution of papayas, bananas, sugar cane and other delicacies for the 43 residents, the excitement mounts; loud screams and, in front of the visitors’ curious eyes, simulated sex. ‘Do they do this all the time?’ asked one surprised Tanzanian official. ‘Only to relieve tensions and when negotiating for a perch or food, and then disinterestedly, whatever the sex or the age,’ said Andre. ‘They also have sex for pleasure but most of the time, it’s a way of making peace. They are a bit the hippies of the forest’.”
Given their genetic proximity to humans, and given the unique role of sex in their animal society, the bonobos make a fascinating case study for anyone interested in the “make love not war” ethos. On one hand it sounds like a great, peaceable way to resolve disputes. (Can you imagine President Bush taking this up? Rather than bomb Iraq out of existence, suppose he had engaged in some weird male fawning ritual with Saddam Hussein… Somehow the image that this conjures up makes you prefer the current violent approach.) On the other hand, it’s pretty unclear exactly how these sexual and pseudo-sexual maneuvers really resolve anything. Suppose you’re a bonobo and you’re going to fight with somebody over the last banana in the bunch. How does simulated intercourse determine who gets the banana? Does the better lover get the fruit? Does one ape get an orgasm while the other gets the banana?
You also can’t help but notice the connection between non-violence and extinction. Are these apes becoming extinct precisely because they are pacific? Probably it’s more complicated than that — a matter of poaching, destroyed habitat, and so forth. But still, it makes you wonder. People often criticize America for its violence — but is violence precisely what makes us great?
Extinction or no, I wish I was a Bonobo…
Haha. It’s a better way to solve a conflict than violence. But on the other hand, life would be so boring without violence…
I don’t think they’re going exinct on their own, that’s most likely human’s doing. I have to agree with Agent Smith from the Matrix; humans acts like a virus.
But while it’s a good way to relif stress, it’s a bad way to stay alive if you have enemies with guns, so to speak. I hardly think it could ever work with humans. And I rather prefer war to the alternative, aka overpopulation and extinction for lack of food.
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