Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Conservation Strategy 2012–2022

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Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... 1

2. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3

2.1 Bonobo Conservation Strategies .......................................................................................... 3

2.2 Process for the Elaboration of a New Bonobo Conservation Strategy ................................ 4

3. Status of Bonobo Populations ...................................................................................... 6

3.1 Current Knowledge  .............................................................................................................. 6

3.2 Priority Populations ............................................................................................................... 9

3.3 Knowledge Gaps and Conclusions .................................................................................... 14

4. Strategic Action For Bonobo Conservation  ................................................................ 18

4.1 Threat Analysis .................................................................................................................... 18

4.1.1.1 Poaching ....................................................................................................... 18

4.1.1.2 Habitat Destruction and Fragmentation ........................................................ 19

4.1.1.3 Disease ......................................................................................................... 19

Screening of antibodies for zoonotic pathogens in wild bonobo populations .... 20

Genetic diversity of wild bonobo populations ..................................................... 20

4.1.2.1 Bushmeat Trade ............................................................................................ 21

4.1.2.2 Availability of Firearms and Ammunition ....................................................... 22

4.1.2.3 Weak Law Enforcement ................................................................................ 22

4.1.2.4 Weak Stakeholder Commitment ................................................................... 23

4.1.2.5 Logging ......................................................................................................... 23

4.1.2.6 Mining and Petroleum (Oil and Gas) ............................................................. 25

4.1.2.7 Infrastructure ................................................................................................. 25

4.1.2.8 Insufficient Subsistence Alternatives ............................................................ 25

4.1.2.9 Human Population Growth ........................................................................... 25

4.1.2.10 Commercial Agriculture............................................................................... 25

4.2 Threat Ranking .................................................................................................................... 27

Direct threats  ...................................................................................................... 30

Indirect threats (contributing factors) .................................................................. 31

4.3 Conceptual Models ............................................................................................................. 31

4.4 Vision and Goal of the Conservation Strategy .................................................................... 35

4.5 Intervention Strategies and Objectives ............................................................................... 35

4.5.1 Strategy 1 Strengthening Institutional Capacity ....................................................... 35

4.5.2 Strategy 2 Consultation and Collaboration with Local Actors  ................................. 37

4.5.3 Strategy 3 Public Awareness and Lobbying  ............................................................ 38

4.5.4 Strategy 4 Research and Monitoring Activities ......................................................... 40

4.5.5 Strategy 5 Sustainable Funding ................................................................................ 42

4.6 Monitoring Plan ................................................................................................................... 43

4.7 Implementation of the Conservation Strategy  ................................................................... 52

4.8 Priorities for the First Year of Implementation of the Conservation Strategy ..................... 53

5. Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 56

6. Acronyms and Abbreviations Used ............................................................................. 56

7. Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 57

Appendix I: List of Bonobo Survey Datasets Archived in the A.P.E.S. Database .............. 61

Appendix II: List of Workshop Participants ...................................................................... 64

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1

1. Executive Summary

The bonobo, Pan paniscus, is an Endangered species of primate endemic to the Democratic 

Republic of Congo, and found only in the dense, equatorial forests south of the Congo River. Its 

historic range is estimated to have been around 565,000 km², but the species is now severely 

threatened, particularly by poaching and the commercial bushmeat trade, even though the killing 

or capturing of bonobos for any purpose is against national and international laws.

For the past three decades, research and conservation organizations have been supporting the 

government of the DRC in its efforts to protect these unique great apes. Unfortunately, institu-

tional, social and economic decline, combined with the turmoil created by recent wars, have meant 

that bonobos are under increasing pressure as urban and rural human populations engage in the 

unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. This has resulted in the elimination of wildlife from 

vast expanses of rainforest and in the dramatic reduction of suitable habitat.

To help to address these issues, the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group facilitated a broadly par-

ticipative consultation process intended to analyse the impediments to effective conservation of 

bonobos. Three ‘Conservation Challenges Working Groups’ were established during a roundtable 

meeting in Kinshasa in March 2010. One of these working groups, led by the Max Planck Institute 

for Evolutionary Anthropology, undertook to compile and analyse all existing bonobo survey data 

and to model bonobo occurrence and their habitat (Hickey et al. 2012). This assessment identi-

fied four bonobo strongholds – the ‘northern block’ (Maringa-Lopori-Wamba), the ‘eastern block’ 

(Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba), the ‘southern block’ (Salonga) and the ‘western block’ (Lac Tumba-

Lac Mai Ndombe). The analysis revealed that, despite the immense effort invested, survey data 

collected between 2003 and 2010 covered less than 30% of the bonobo’s geographic range. 

Quantitative data were too patchy to allow the total number of bonobos remaining to be estimated; 

however, the systematic surveys that have been conducted give a minimum population of about 

15,000–20,000 individuals. The modellers overlaid polygons of areas where some recent surveys 

had been carried out over the final map of suitable conditions to identify areas that have not yet 

been surveyed and that are likely to provide suitable conditions for bonobos, both within and out-

side protected areas. The model clearly showed fragmentation of probable suitable areas, not only 

by river systems and savannas, but also due to human activities.

An adolescent female bonobo 

at Wamba in repose © Takeshi 

Furuichi

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