Evan MacLean

Ok, this is Kikongo, who's expression perfectly details the nature of this post. Its an after-dinner-lazy-quick-sort-through-a-few-lola-pics-with-no-effort-towards-a-coherent-theme kind of thing.




So lets see... Bonobos have some pretty fantastic hairstyles sometimes. much better than chimps hands down.

And here is the handsomest of them all. Tatonga...he is the alpha male (i know, i know, bonobos are collectively female dominant...but there is still an alpha male). During the last 2 weeks at Lola he jumped an electric fence between two enclosure almost daily so that he could pursue the lovely ladies of his choice in multiple groups simultaneously.


And this is the siren that calls him in. A big pink bonobo swelling. what, you're not turned on? anyways, if you were a male bonobo this would pretty much be a pornographic image.


But amazingly when bonobos get pregnant and lactate they take the energy out of their swelling and allocate it elsewhere. so..you get left with something that looks a little more like this (the piece of grass inside is totally optional):


swelling also cycle and are most tumescent around the time of ovulation (we think) but they never deflate like this unless you're in mama mode.

This is Claudine, the founder and director of Lola and probably the person who cares about bonobos more than anyone else on earth. She's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet so wish her luck right now while shes working on the release in Basankusu.


I guess I should mention sex too since its pretty much one of the central themes of bonobo existence. Here is the ventral-ventral position that gets peoples attention because its uncommon in most species besides humans and bonobos.


But they have some other tricks too. Here is the behind the back harlem globetrotter move.


And here's Manono taking a swim. Apes don't really swim swim, but Manono gets all they way up to his neck on hot days...he also enjoys pulling the plants from the river bottom to snack on.


Thats all I guess.