The bonobos live in large groups.

They are all different. Each one have is own character, preferences, habits.

For example, a young male Inongo will not eat his banana like everyone for breakfast, he will take it at noon. Maya a female does not like milk but love yogurt !!

It is not easy to manage when you have 20 bonobos which know exactly what they went !

We can recognized  and named each bonobo by their personal behavior and look.

This individuality make them extremely charming.

And make very busy days !!!

The bonobos eat often ...

The meals are very expected moment, they give rhythm 
although to the day.

These are great moment to make observations on the social comportment of the group.

These special moments are often shared by visitor groups which are coming regularly to watch the bonobos.

The Bonobos eat above all  :

FRUITS 
Pineapple, Orange, Watermelon, Banana, Passion fruit 
and all the season savage fruits...



VEGETABLES
Cabbage, Onion, Corn, Sweet potato ...

LEAVES
Spanish, matembele...
In DRC, there is a lot of edible leaves.

 
STEMS
Micugu, Sugar cane and more

BARKS
They usually take them from the forest

NUTS
All kind, peanuts, palm nuts, walnuts ....


 
The bonobos eat also eggs and little insects
as well as milk,  yogurt ...

In the wild, a young bonobo is breast feeded by his mother 
until the age of 4 and even more. 
The calcium intake is very important 
so in the Sanctuary, the bonobo have it on a daily base

The bonobos drink natural water 

The bonobos play all day long...

The smallest with the oldest and vice-versa. 

Oldest give to youngest the opportunity 
to learn and improve their climbing and jumping techniques.

• Juvenile
• medium
• and very small

Each group have its own forest. 

The youngest group need calm, they have substitute mothers who feed them like the forest mother and give them comfort and security.

The medium and juvenile get together few time during the day but they need to practice climbing and jumping by the own.

During the day, the Bonobos rest. 

It is a very important social moment. The adult in the forest will construct nest and show to the smaller one how to do. The nest are made of branches of leaves. 

In the Sanctuary, the oldest, the juvenile are doing it and try to rest a little after lunch. They use branches and also fresh straws.

The young bonobos are very unruly, they like more to play together than to sleep during the daylight.

At the end of the day, all the bonobos of the Sanctuary, by mutual agreement, go to the corridor who bring to the night cages.

For their security and protection (from sickness like cold...) the Bonobos are sleeping all together in a big room with large cages.

 
The installation and sharing out in the cages are  based on the friendship of the day.

They will take, there, their last meal