Bonobo

Pygmy chimpanzee or bonobo — © Zveriki.com, AI-generated image based on the original work of DBeaune, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
Mass
26892–29772 g
Length
1050–1250 mm
Lifespan
10958–16436 days 30–45 years
19537
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pygmy-chimpanzee-or-bonobo
en
pygmy chimpanzee or bonobo
Pan paniscus
The bonobo, or pygmy chimpanzee, is a species of primate from the hominid family. It is a close relative of the common chimpanzee, but with a slimmer build and peaceful behavior.
Bonobos differ from common chimpanzees in having a slimmer body and a peaceful nature. They are important for nature because they spread tree seeds and maintain balance in the tropical forests of Africa.
hand collection and use of tools
trophic:omnivore
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Mass (adult, male)
35000–45000 g
Mass (adult, female)
25000–35000 g
Mass (child)
1500–9000 g
Mass (embryo)
1–1500 g
Length (adult, female)
1050–1150 mm
Length (adult, male)
1100–1250 mm
Length (embryo)
1–250 mm
Length (child)
300–700 mm
Height
178–4500 mm
Lifespan maximum
20089 days 55 years
Theoretical lifespan
10848–21463 days 30–59 years
Gestation
232 days 7 months 3 weeks
Litter size
1
Maturity
2555–3650 days 7–10 years
Offspring
1
Repro interval
1460–2190 days 4–6 years
Arms count (adult)
2
Legs count (adult)
2
Arms size (adult)
700–850 mm
Legs size (adult)
550–650 mm
Head size (adult)
180–220 mm
Reproduction
normal sexual
Comparable in mass
Nightstand
Biome
Tropical dry broadleaf forest
Realm
world of Afrotropics
Biome
Tropical moist forest
Landscape
terrestrial forest
Climate
Always hot and wet
Climate
Always very wet
Landscape
terrestrial
Climate
Always hot
Climate
Low precipitation in winter
Climate
Hot, little precipitation in winter
Shelter
nest
Reproduction
in bushes or on a tree
Trophic type
omnivore
Reproduction
caring mother
Reproduction
in a terrestrial nest
Reproduction
live birth
Reproduction
land
Reproduction
Neotenic
10957.5
16436.25
10847.925
21463.11490037664
1050.0
1250.0
26891.882866408847
29772.31366473144
homogamy, reproduction always with fertilization, no alternation of generations
Worker
Were {name} like {animal}, then:
birth time
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
Legs count
very hot and very humid all year round, rain almost every day
days
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
adult
Maturity
Nightstand
insects
About health
milk
anything
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
hot, rains in summer, little precipitation in winter
little precipitation in winter, more in summer
Trophic type
Filters
hand collection and use of tools
sleep
leaves
always hot and humid, huge trees and vines
Upcoming birthdays
protection
Breeding structure built or used for laying eggs and raising offspring.
in bushes or on a tree
eggs, roe or offspring develop in a nest built on the ground or close to it
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
Height
rains almost always, very humid
young are born live on land, not hatched from eggs or roe
Age (juvenile)
Age (from birth to death)
Hot, little precipitation in winter
Age (embryo)
Wanderers
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
More:
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
fruits
Lifespan average
nectar
in a terrestrial nest
leaves
live birth
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
hot, there is a dry season, trees shed their leaves
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
small mammals
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
Neotenic
Actively hunting and capturing live prey.
Pets
Tropical dry broadleaf forest
sweet nectar and flower pollen
Legs size
{name} jubilee
paw
cm
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
turns
Rascals
terrestrial forest
fruits
drink mother's milk in childhood
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
Litter size
Arms count
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
°C
Not specified
Share
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
Describes food handling or digging performed with the forelimbs.
Low precipitation in winter
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Tropical moist forest
Elders
Bro
normal sexual
Taxons
seeds, berries, fruits
if born as {name}
omnivore
age
birth date
Head size
small mammals — mice, shrews, bats
rest
Fur color
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
Insects
primary food sources
after transformation until death
Potential Habitat
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Mass
young shoots and leaves of plants
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
Plants
Gestation
small mammals
land
{name} birthday
Link copied
Always hot
No results found
branches
omnivory, they eat plants, animals, and mushrooms — almost any food
On the map
Female ♀
all life stages
Body color
world of Afrotropics
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0 Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
birth year
Maturity
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
sq mm
yr
flowers
How similar?
Male ♂
until the celebration
child
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
Legs color
What if eaten?
nest high on branches, only the mother provides parental care for the offspring
Neither
from birth to adulthood
Young offspring still dependent on parental care.
nest
What do they eat?
Where do they live?
Immature individual that has not yet reached reproductive maturity.
Head color
forests on land — tropical, temperate, boreal
world of Afrotropics
6 to 47 kilograms, 0.9 – 2.5 meters
nest high on shrub or tree branches
Duration
live insects
Always hot and wet
This is me
Arms size
Always very wet
Gamers
How are they built?
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
terrestrial
Asexual
swap
active predation
Who among us will transform as if by magic and become like {animal}?
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
inhabit and develop on land, outside water bodies
rainforest
Arms color
Head color
celebrated their {n} birthday
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
very hot all year round, frequent rains, but sometimes dry
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
embryo
caring mother
Length
kg
Observations
◉{N} more on tap
infant
pupa
imago
adolescent
adolescent
pygmy-chimpanzee-or-bonobo
karlikovyj-shimpanze
bonobo
bwnwbw
banoba
gacac-simpanze
bonobo
juja-shimp-anze
karlikovyj-shimpanze
bonobo
karlikovyj-shimpanze
bonobo
pygmy-chimpanzee-or-bonobo
karlikovyj-shimpanze
wo-hei-xing-xing
  • Bonobos (Pan paniscus) are the closest living relatives to humans and display more human-like behavioral traits than common chimpanzees.
  • Some biologists believe that neoteny — the retention of juvenile traits in adult animals — played an important role in the evolution of bonobos.
  • In an experiment by the Great Apes Research Foundation, male Kanzi learned to understand about 3000 English words by ear and actively use more than 500 words through lexigrams.
  • The bonobo, despite its childlike appearance, grows to be five times stronger than a human.
  • The bonobo (Pan paniscus) is the only primate whose diet is almost identical to that of humans, making it possible to feed them the same food people eat.
  • Bonobos constantly communicate with each other using a system of sounds that has not yet been deciphered, even while eating.
  • Despite its name, the bonobo (Pan paniscus) is not smaller than the common chimpanzee in size, but differs from it in body build density.
  • Bonobos lack aggression, cooperative hunting, and gestural language learning, although they easily manipulate objects in captivity.
  • When bonobos find a new food source, their joy often leads to sexual activity, which reduces tension and helps maintain peaceful feeding.
  • Some biologists believe that neoteny — the retention of juvenile traits in adult animals — played an important role in the evolution of bonobos.

Phenotype

  • Bonobos (Pan paniscus) are the closest living relatives to humans and display more human-like behavioral traits than common chimpanzees.
  • Despite its name, the bonobo (Pan paniscus) is not smaller than the common chimpanzee in size, but differs from it in body build density.

Size

  • The bonobo, despite its childlike appearance, grows to be five times stronger than a human.
  • Despite its name, the bonobo (Pan paniscus) is not smaller than the common chimpanzee in size, but differs from it in body build density.

Feeding

  • The bonobo (Pan paniscus) is the only primate whose diet is almost identical to that of humans, making it possible to feed them the same food people eat.
  • When bonobos find a new food source, their joy often leads to sexual activity, which reduces tension and helps maintain peaceful feeding.
  • In an experiment by the Great Apes Research Foundation, male Kanzi learned to understand about 3000 English words by ear and actively use more than 500 words through lexigrams.
  • The bonobo, despite its childlike appearance, grows to be five times stronger than a human.
  • Bonobos constantly communicate with each other using a system of sounds that has not yet been deciphered, even while eating.
  • Bonobos lack aggression, cooperative hunting, and gestural language learning, although they easily manipulate objects in captivity.
  • When bonobos find a new food source, their joy often leads to sexual activity, which reduces tension and helps maintain peaceful feeding.