The secret life of bonobos

There are not many places in the world where you can photograph wild bonobos - our closest living relative. Bonobos live only in the dense tropical forests south of the Congo River in Central Africa. In 2021 and 2022, photographer Christian Ziegler travelled to the LuiKotale field station to document bonobos in their natural habitat. Ziegler spent two full seasons at LuiKotale—each day rising before dawn and trekking up to eight kilometers through dense forest to locate bonobos as they began their daily routines. Through his photographs, Ziegler hopes to share not just what bonobos look like, but who they are—clever, caring, and social beings with rich family lives and deep bonds

An enigmatic ape

Bonobos are the most enigmatic and least understood of all great apes. Until one hundred years ago, they were thought to be small chimpanzees.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

There are few places where bonobos are studied in the wild. One of these is the LuiKotale research camp, located on the edge of Salonga National Park in the Congo Basin.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

In a small clearing in this vast forest, the LuiKotale Bonobo Project operates out of a few thatched huts with palm-leaf roofs.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Over 100 bonobos live in the area around LuiKotale. They are so accustomed to scientists that they can be followed by trained observers during their daily activities.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Bonobos usually spend the day on the ground where they feed in the often-dense undergrowth of stems and leaves.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Bonobo societies are rare among social mammals because females enjoy high social status, sometimes even dominating larger males in the group.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Wild bonobos groom each other for at least two hours a day. 
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Grooming plays an important role in social bonding. Here, the group gather to groom each other on a fallen tree.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

The forest boasts a great variety of fruit tree species, all of which depend on fruit-eating animals, like bonobos, to spread their seeds across the landscape
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Bonobos help themselves to the forest’s abundant buffet, which mainly consists of fruit. Some fruit can weigh over 10 kilograms.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Young female PaniPani enjoys the fruit of a Mammea africana tree.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Bonobos are mostly vegetarian, but sometimes they will hunt and eat animals. This male is holding a red-colobus monkey that was recently killed.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Bonobos stay close to their mothers for their first nine years. Youngsters before the age of five are particularly dependent on their mothers for food and protection.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Mothers carry their offspring for several years and nurse them until they are five or six years old.
 
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Mother and child
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Young bonobos spend a lot of time playing - swinging and chasing each other through the forest. They have so much fun, and this also builds up their strength and agility.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Bonobos roam over large areas of 40 to 50 square kilometers. To communicate, they can produce loud calls that travel long distances.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Bonobos build sleeping platforms in trees for safe sleeping over night. They break and fold side branches to allow for comfortable resting.
© Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
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