'Flora', the bonoba that faced a leopard to impress the 'boss'

The bonoba

climbed up the tree to get dangerously close to the leopard that threatened the group from above.

struck the nearby branches and tried to scare away the predator, which responded by displaying its white fangs threateningly. The encounter between the bonobo community and the leopard, the first to be described, could be briefly recorded by primatologists who observe this group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A single confrontation that, however, offers some clues about what life is like in a community of bonobos, these usually peaceful matriarchies, so different from chimpanzees, patriarchal and more violent.

The group that observed the meeting was led by scientist Barbara Fruth, from the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, who believes that this milestone they attended - whose details have been published in the journal

- opens more questions than it solves, although it also provides unexpected readings.

For example, for all bonobos to band together to deal with the real threat of the leopard (as there are records of leopards that have eaten bonobos), instead of dissolving and fleeing, as would be expected of this animal that usually avoids. the conflict.

"The participation of a young immigrant was unexpected, but it is something that can be beneficial in a society dominated by females"

Barbara Fruth, Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior

"The participation of a young immigrant was unexpected, but it is something that can be beneficial in a society dominated by females," explains the primatologist about the leading role of

Among bonobos, females from other communities tend to have low status within the community hierarchy. To fix this, they often try to seek proximity with senior, older females to associate with and seek coalitions. And this is what could be happening that morning of July 17, 2020, when

he ran to defend his community, made up of about fifty individuals, from the leopard. The young bonoba was not intimidated even though the give-and-take lasted a couple of hours, with the leopard threatening several times to attack, leaping after her and scaring her away.

Flora

took the lead in facing the young leopard, supported in her thrust by two other adult males. They are two low-ranking bonobos, lacking mothers to support them in this matriarchy, and they were probably trying to impress her with the intention of gaining her appreciation for a future mating. Meanwhile, a few meters away, one of the group's leaders was quietly observing the scene. The female

placidly ate leaves, unfazed by the leopard's presence. This beast is one of the main threats to the survival of these great apes, always behind the furtive humans. In some chimpanzee populations, leopard predation is considered responsible for almost 40% of adult mortality cases.

Bonobas live in a matriarchy and the adult female may have taken advantage of the situation to examine the young Flora, to improve her integration into the community.

Fruth explains that

is a very special adult female (in her forties) - “she is known for doing whatever she pleases regardless of the mainstream” - of great interest to females coming from outside the group and looking for proximity to one of high rank.

could tell from her experience that the situation was not as dangerous as it appeared. "I would interpret her behavior as that she may have been aware that the leopard was somehow trapped in the foliage and was not really dangerous given the flimsy branches and individuals that surrounded it," speculates the primatologist. And so, Fruth mused, took advantage of the situation to examine the young

: "He could have taken it as a test of the suitability of this female for future integration into this community."

In general, the group of bonobos was more belligerent than expected, so they found many more similarities than they supposed between their reaction and that of the chimpanzees, more warriors.

“Bonobos have a reputation for being peaceful and we can expect them to disappear after a few alarm calls signaling the detection of their enemy.

Here, however, they invested time and energy to continue to harass and display a fighting spirit that visibly distressed the leopard, ”explains Fruth, who is also a professor at Liverpool John Moores University.

Of course: they recognize in the study that they cannot exclude the possibility that the leopard was distracted by the presence of humans or that it made him rethink the attack; bonobos are used to scientists by now, but not the predator. According to the primatologist, it seemed that this leopard could not flee, since all escape routes appeared to be blocked. “I couldn't judge the danger emanating from these human watchers on the ground. Imagine that he had planned a leap towards

, pushing her, jumping to the ground to escape ... Even if he knew that bonobos had no chance of following him, what about humans? ”Fruth muses.

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