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Saturday, May 31, 2008

Bonobo Fission-Fusion


These bonobos live at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. They are managed in a mix-and-match fashion that mimics the wild. From Grains of Golden Sand, "Bonobos live in a “fission-fusion” society; group size constantly fluctuates. Groups and individuals meet like wayward atoms and molecules, mingle, then remix and disperse based on the dynamics of the moment. A female with her offspring might form a small band that forages apart during the day but nests for security at night with the extended group. Groups may meet in assemblies of 50 or more to share fruiting vegetation. On the other hand, they may party for purely social reasons, such as banging on the drum-sounding buttress roots of canopy trees and having a bonobo fiesta of a good time."

Fission-fusion in captivity is where zookeepers put differing animals together based on subtle, social cues as to compatibility and the animals' desires to mingle. They then swap out individuals to permit proper and ongoing socialization. In all cases the keepers cannot force the animals to move against their will -- they only extend "invitations" (with enticements of food treats and toys) to come or go, or to mix or not. At times the animals themselves choose their movements (outdoors, on exhibit, or indoors in the night-house) as well as their companions. Fission-fusion follows the natural model for the species and is a simple way to spice up and enrich bonobo lives.

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