7.23.2007 | "a politically correct primate"

Ah, shades of Margaret Mead . We have the bonobo apes, close cousins to the chimpanzee, and a prototype for how feminazis would organize us. From the July 30, 2007 New Yorker (as previewed in today's Wall Street Journal), the essence:

Bonobos seem to organize themselves without the use of hierarchies, have more sex than is necessary for reproduction, and share food. For many, writes the New Yorker's Ian Parker, bonobos are a more palatable human ancestor than their close relatives, the chimpanzees, who struggle against each other for status and occasionally divide into civil war. They have attained an image in the media and among conservationists that is "equal parts dolphin, Dalai Lama, and Warren Beatty," he writes.

What a bunch of sweeties those bonobos are. But wait, there's more, screams the feminazi infomercial:

However, a large part of bonobos' good reputation comes from their behavior in captivity. Indeed, the bonobo expert most quoted in the media, Frans de Waal, a professor at Atlanta's Emory University, has never seen a bonobo in the wild. Mr. de Waal says that while captivity can change an animal's behavior, captive bonobos' behavior can still be usefully compared to captive chimpanzees's behavior. "The bonobo is female-dominated, doesn't have warfare, doesn't have hunting," he says.

"The bonobo is female-dominated." Hillary, your time is near...

Unfortunately for those who envision a female-dominated, peaceful, sharing and caring society (unofficial motto could be: no running with scissors, boys...), it all ain't quite what it's cracked up to be:

There are also many anecdotes of violent bonobo behavior. Jeroen Stevens has seen five females attack a male and gnaw off his toes. While zoos keep bonobos in small groups, they might behave more violently in larger groups. During a recent experiment studying bonobo diet in Frankfurt, a male surprised researchers by becoming aggressive after his calorie intake was reduced -- successfully fighting against females who had dominated him. Gottfried Hohmann, who has studied bonobos in the Congo since 1989, has seen a group of females attack a male for 30 minutes straight.

Hmm, tasty. Male bonobo toes...The conclusion is to be wary of global expectations based on one's political philosophy and not backed by adequate data. The author of this article quotes the academic "expert" (sorry for the scare quotes; I have great difficulty envisioning an academic who is truly expert in anything that goes on in the wild) with this note of caution:

"Those who learn about bonobos fall too much in love," says Prof. de Waal. "All of a sudden, here we have a politically correct primate, at which point I have to...calm them down: bonobos are not always nice to each other."

How very understated: the gang attack and biting off of toes is "not always nice." Who knew?