A rare sanctuary on the outskirts of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the world’s only refuge for orphaned bonobos, typically rescued from poachers or from local homes where they are kept for meat.
Foster Mothers Provide Lifeline
Micheline Nzonzi cradled a small, sleepy bonobo, an orphan whose life she will nurture for the next three years. The one-year-old’s prospects are bright, thanks to maternal affection, bottle-feeding, and playtime with other infants.
“Without me, without us, these bonobos cannot survive,” said Nzonzi, a bonobo foster mother for 24 years. “They survive thanks to human affection.”
This primate nursery, set in the forested outskirts of Kinshasa, is the only sanctuary of its kind for orphaned bonobos. Although great apes like the endangered bonobo are legally protected from hunters, they remain targets for the bushmeat trade, which extends far beyond the Congo Basin—an expansive rainforest often called Earth’s second lung. The bushmeat trade includes rodents and antelopes, but a totemic ape like the bonobo can fetch a higher price.
Education and Conservation Efforts
“The bonobos are in danger. We are educating people to not kill the bonobos,” said Arsène Madimba, an educator at Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary. “We can’t kill them, we can’t put them at home as pets, we can’t eat them. Because of poaching, we can find big trading of orphaned bonobos across the country.”
Bonobos raise their young for four to five years, and their low reproductive cycle makes them vulnerable to environmental disturbances. To protect them and their habitat, Congolese authorities last year proposed issuing “bonobo credits,” similar to carbon credits, to reward communities for preserving forests. The program has yet to launch.
“There is a cultural difference” between Congo and neighboring Uganda, where apes are not hunted for meat, said primatologist Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, founder of Uganda-based Conservation Through Public Health. “In Congo, they believe that you can become as strong as (the primate eaten).”
Life at the Sanctuary
Dozens of adult bonobos live at Lola ya Bonobo, some since its opening in 2002 under the sponsorship of the conservation nonprofit Les Amis des Bonobos du Congo. The nursery also houses 11 young bonobos, the most recent arriving earlier this year. Each baby is paired with a foster mother who will care for it for years before it can join bonobo groups open to visitors.
On rare occasions, an animal at Lola ya Bonobo is eventually released into the wild, which can take years of preparation. About 20,000 bonobos remain in the wild.
Bonobos share nearly 99% of their DNA with humans and, along with chimpanzees, are our closest living relatives. In the 1980s, primatologists estimated about 100,000 bonobos were left in the wild; that number has now plummeted to roughly 20,000, an astonishing decline. The bonobo is threatened primarily by the commercial bushmeat trade, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Their natural habitat is an area of dense equatorial forest south of the Congo River. Bonobos are rarely studied in the wild, and much of what is known about them comes from studies in foreign zoos and by foreign researchers drawn to this fascinating creature.
The bonobo was first identified as a possibly separate species in 1929, when German anatomist Ernst Schwarz noticed a difference in the skull of a specimen believed to be a grown chimpanzee with an unusually small head. Schwarz’s rival, American zoologist Harold Coolidge, later provided detailed descriptions that allowed the bonobo to be classified as a separate species in 1933.
Bonobos are relatively well-known in the United States, partly due to their reputation as one of the most intelligent, peaceful, and empathetic animals. They may even have a capacity for imagination, according to a 2025 study by Johns Hopkins University.
Bonobos are led by females and are distinguished by their apparent lack of sexual jealousy. When two groups meet, females may switch sides without provoking a fight, unlike chimpanzees and gorillas. They may initiate casual mating, which occurs so frequently, intensely, and with such variety that bonobos are often described as the “hippie apes.”
Underground Trade in Primate Meat
In Kinshasa, the trade in primate meat has gone underground. Traders need permits to hunt antelopes and other species, but trading in “les macaques” is prohibited in part to prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases like Ebola.
“I used to sell monkeys before, but now we cannot sell monkeys, any type of monkeys,” said Charles Ntanga, a vendor at Masina market. Ntanga wielded a flywhisk to swat flies from the rancid carcass of a giant rodent, selling for about $17 per kilogram. Next to him, vendor Guyva Mputu was selling python, its frozen flesh steaming in the humid weather.
Baby bonobos captured by poachers are used to lure adult bonobos, which are shot when they come to investigate the noise, said Madimba of Lola ya Bonobo.
Orphaned bonobos build bonds with their caregivers, who often can identify each by name, said zookeeper Frank Lutete, whose role is to feed the animals. He paddled across the water to distribute papaya as the bonobos made a racket, descending from trees to collect his offerings. Some bonobos thank him, he said, tapping their chests in a gesture of gratitude.
