Researchers, primatologists, anthropologists, evolutionary anthropologists and other scientists study apes for a variety of reasons and from multiple perspectives. Bonobo researchers face extraordinary challenges due to the political instability of the DRC, the location of wild bonobos deep in the Congo Basin, and the lack of funding for research initiatives. Bonobo research tends to center around trying to understand how bonobos and humans can co-exist or focused on the cognition and behavior of bonobos.
Lola ya Bonobo
Cognitive, behavioral, physiological, genetic, morphological and health research has all been conducted at Lola ya Bonobo since 2005. This has resulted in 30 publications between the years 2007-2012.
Max Planck Institute
The Department of Primatology at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany) has produced a cache of publications to better understand the bonobo. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute have been studying bonobos in the LuiKotale forest of the Salonga National Park since 2002.
Duke University, Evolutionary Anthropology
The 3chimps – Hominoid Psychology Research Group, led by Dr. Brian Hare, wants to understand the features of human social problem-solving and decision-making that are unique among hominoids (bonobos, chimps, humans, gorillas and orangutans). The group also studies the evolution of cognition and psychology.
Kyoto University, Primate Research Institute
Researchers from Kyoto University’s Wamba Committee for Bonobo Research, led by Dr. Takeshi Furuichi, have been studying social behaviors and ecology of wild bonobos at the Luo Reserve for Scientific Research in Wamba, DRC since 1973.