Young Bonobos Empathize With Each Other Like Humans: Study Reveals

Bonobos are the closest living relatives of homo sapiens, yet most people know very little about them. A new finding reveals that young bonobos are similar to human children in emotional development.

Often dubbed as the smartest and most empathetic apes in the world, the Bonobos (Pan Paniscus) share 98.5 percent of their genetic blueprint with humans. Hence, it shouldn't be surprising that they possess human-like qualities. One such quality was discovered by researchers Zanna Clay, PhD, and Frans de Waal, PhD, of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, while conducting a study at the bonobo sanctuary near Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

They discovered that bonobos regulate their emotions in a human like way. The socio emotional framework that is found in children is also seen in the young apes and using this framework the emotional tests designed for children can also be applied to the young apes. The present study confirms that young apes and humans share several aspects of emotional functioning.

Over 370 post-distress interactions were observed-some 318 due to fighting and 55 by throwing tantrums. The study included victims of bushmeat hunting. After analyzing detailed videos of the daily social life at the sanctuary, the researchers were able to measure how bonobos handle their own emotions and how they react to other primate's emotions. The researchers discovered that the bonobos were able to quickly and easily recover from their own emotional mayhems, such as after losing a fight, and they also showed more empathy for their fellow great apes.

A striking behavior the researchers noted is that the bonobos comforted others in distress by kissing, embracing and touching.

"This makes the species an ideal candidate for psychological comparisons," says de Waal. "Any fundamental similarity between humans and bonobos probably traces back to their last common ancestor, who lived around six million years ago," Clay explains in a statement.

The bonobos' empathetic feelings can also predict their ability to regulate emotions and not over react. Emotion regulations in human children are important for healthy social development. The kid's that are socially competent mange to keep the ups and downs of their emotions within bounds, for this a stable parent- child bond is needed. That's why orphans are seen having trouble managing their emotions.

The juvenile bonobos that were forcefully separated from their bonobo mother's at an early age, were taken care of by human substitute mothers. They were looked after by the humans until they were transferred to forested enclosures.

When comapred to the bonobos who were reared by their own mothers, the orphan bonobos were seen having difficulty managing their emotional feelingsl. Orphan bonobos took time to recover from distress. They would scream for minutes after a fight when compared to the mother- reared juveniles who would snap out of distress in seconds.

Researcher de Waal concluded saying, "Animal emotions have long been scientifically taboo. By measuring the expression of distress and arousal in great apes, and how they cope, we were able to confirm that efficient emotion regulation is an essential part of empathy. Empathy allows great apes and humans to absorb the distress of others without getting overly distressed themselves. This also explains why orphan bonobos, which have experienced trauma that hampers emotional development, are less socially competent than their mother-raised peers."

Another similar trait between humans and bonobos was highlighted in a recent study published in Current Biology that revealed bonobos enjoy sharing their food with others of their ilk and never outgrow this habit, unlike the chimps that get more selfish as they reach adulthood.

The researchers documented their finding in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.