Female bonobos attack males and beat them up, possibly in retaliation for trying to harm their children
Coalition intra-group aggression by wild female bonobos: Current Biology
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)01041-3
'A forest with bonobos has never been so quiet': Most extreme case of violence in 'hippie' species recorded, with females ganging up on male in unprecedented attack | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/animals/land-mammals/a-forest-with-bonobos-has-never-been-so-quiet-most-extreme-case-of-violence-in-hippie-species-recorded-with-females-ganging-up-on-male-in-unprecedented-attack
While chimpanzees are known to be quite aggressive, bonobos have rarely been seen fighting with each other and are known to live peacefully. It has also been reported that bonobos have advanced intellectual abilities, such as being able to tell their human partners where to find snacks that only they know.
However, even in bonobos, which are known for their peaceful nature , male-male aggression is common , and female bonobos have been observed teaming up to combat this. This female coalition behavior is thought to be the basis for female dominance in bonobo society, and may be the reason why lethal attacks and infanticide are rare in bonobo society.
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On February 18, 2025, Sonia Pashchevskaya, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Ethology, and her local assistant were observing a group of about 60 bonobos in Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The morning of the event was unpredictable, and 'it was a typical data collection day,' Pashchevskaya said.
Suddenly, a bonobo scream echoed through the forest from about 500 meters away. Because of its high-pitched voice, Pashchevskaya initially thought it might be the result of excitement after catching a small antelope .
'All the bonobos who were with us at the time came down from the trees and started rushing over,' Pashchevskaya said.
Pashchevskaya, who arrived minutes after hearing the voices, first smelled blood and saw a team of five females stomping, punching and biting a prone male. She realized this was no antelope hunt.
The victim, a 19-year-old male named Hugo, lost most of his hair, several toes, part of his ear, and the flesh on his knuckles. His face was also scarred beyond recognition, and his testicles were also bitten.
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Other members of the group were also present at the attack, but no one tried to intervene. 'Everyone was so quiet,' Pashchevskaya said. 'I've never seen a bonobo forest so quiet before. I've never seen anything like it.'
It's unclear what sparked the roughly 30-minute assault, but Pashchevskaya and others said they had seen Hugo attempt to grab a female baby from the group two days earlier, and that the attack may have been in retaliation for Hugo's actions.
'Of course, this was just one of the events from two days ago, but if this had continued, it could have triggered the attack,' Pashchevskaya said. The only other incident similar to this one was reported in another bonobo group about 300 km away, and it is believed to have been punishment for the attempted murder of a baby. Hugo eventually managed to escape, but has since gone missing, leading the research team to speculate he may be dead.
Meanwhile, Naoko Tokuyama, a bonobo researcher at Chuo University in Japan who was not involved in this report, pointed out in an email to the science media outlet Live Science that Hugo may still be alive. In her long-term study, Tokuyama and her colleagues reported that there were cases where males who had not been seen for several months returned to the group, so whether Hugo is dead or not needs to be carefully considered.
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