Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Fact Sheet: Managed Care

North America

• Some 160 Bonobos are kept in zoos in the U.S., England, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany.
• 58 rescued bonobos live at Lola ya Bonobo, a 30 hectare (74 acre) sanctuary near Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (2007)
  • This center also obtained access to 20,000 hectares (49,421 acres) of primary tropical forest habitat as a safe place to release rehabilitated bonobos.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZG)

• San Diego Zoo's 6,000 sq ft exhibit "Pygmy Chimps at Bonobo Road" opened 4/3/93.
• A second bonobo troop is maintained at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.
• The first bonobo to arrive in San Diego was a male, "Kakowet" who was estimated to be 18 months old when he was sent from a Zaire zoo in June, 1960.
• The first pair in the U.S. were seen in San Diego in 1962, when 6 year old female "Linda" was sent from Antwerp Zoo in Belgium.
  • The pair, Kakowet and Linda, produced 3 male and 7 female offspring over 18 years at San Diego.
  • Sperm recovered 6 hours after Kakowet's death from heart failure is kept viable in the "Frozen Zoo" at the San Diego Zoo's Beckman Center.

Breeding in Managed Care

• In the U.S. the American Zoo and Aquarium Association Chimpanzee Species Survival Plan regulates breeding. (Lee & Guhad 2001)