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Showing posts with label forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forest. Show all posts

Tuesday, 22 September 2015

Bonobo Monkey



Bonobo Monkeys aren't just your average monkey, they're one of the closest living relatives monkey-wise to humans. Surprisingly, they share more than 98% of our DNA. They're unbelievably complex, demonstrating emotional intelligence and sensitivity. These amazing primates are found in only one country, the Democratic Republic of Congo in the heart of the Congo Basin, the second largest rain forest in the world. Traditionally Bonobos are thought of as the 'Make Love not War' primates. They're peaceful and have a reputation for being docile creatures - very human like! They're also very healthy, fruit makes up half their diet, a diet supplemented by insects and larvae. The Bonobos are also one of the most vocal primates, their communication is complex, sounds mixed with complex hand gestures. Bonobos are also very social creatures, they're always found in groups of varying sizes. Communities of up to 100 bonobos split into groups to search for food during the day and then return to sleep in the safety of each others company at night. Much like many other animals, sexual activity plays a huge part of their society, they use it to bond and resolve conflicts.
Bonobos aren't just amazing they're also pretty cute too!


Tuesday, 1 October 2013

How do gorillas raised in captivity know what's safe to eat in the wild?

By instinct. Similar to how we have evolved to enjoy the taste of the safe foods and dislike the poisonous ones, gorillas have done just the same. In the wild mountain gorillas eat leaves,shoots and stems so much so an adult male can chomp through a massive 18kg of vegetation in a day. In experiments gorillas were given over 2000 pairs of foods and they then had to choose between them. Throughout the experiments they demonstrated consistent food choices in high sugar fruits with a high ratio of sugar to fibre, this is even the same using pictures of the fruit!