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bonobo: Quick Facts

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Last updated

News •

Endangered baby bonobo born at the Jacksonville Zoo • Nov. 5, 2026, 3:06 PM ET (The Florida Times-Union)

Facts

Also Known As Pan troglodytes paniscus • Pan paniscus • pygmy chimpanzee

Photos and Videos

Illustration of a male bonobo, also known as a pygmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus), standing upright with dark fur and a slender build. A scale bar below shows measurements of 30 centimeters and 12 inches for size reference.
Map of central and western Africa showing the geographic ranges of chimpanzee and bonobo species, with color-coded areas for western chimpanzee (blue), Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzee (purple), central chimpanzee (pink), eastern chimpanzee (orange), and bonobo (green). The ranges are concentrated in countries such as Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and surrounding regions.
Diagram tracing the evolutionary split of humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas over the past 12 million years, with skull illustrations for key hominin species and African great apes, and branching lines showing divergence points.
Bonobo ape with one arm raised, gazing at the camera.
Illustration comparing the body plans of representative anthropoids, showing a male western lowland gorilla, a male human, a male bonobo, a female Bornean orangutan, and male and female northern white-cheeked gibbons, all labeled and depicted to scale.
Learn about the social behavior of bonobos
The video thumbnail image shows two black and white photos of monkey and ape heads, surrounded by blue and pink circles.
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