Mating

As our closest relatives, it seems fitting that bonobos would exhibit similar sexual behavior. This is found to be true, for while most species use sex for merely procreational purposes, the bonobo includes it as a part of everyday social relations. Sexual interactions occur more often in bonobos than any other primate species, but their reproduction rate remains the same as the chimpanzee, indicating that sex serves other purposes for the bonobo (de Waal, 1995).

Females are in heat for 3/4 of their cycles, and often exhibit false genital swelling to further elicit sexual encounters with males. Bonobos engage in most every kind of sexual behavior, including, oral sex, group sex, incest, bisexuality, body-licking, sex in different positions, masturbation, and deep tongue kisses. Bonobo genitalia are rotated forward, allowing them to have face to face sex during which partners commonly gaze lovingly into each other's eyes. The sexual dexterity, foreplay, and seemingly tender nature during sex are elsewhere on earth only exhibited by humans (Block, 2002).

However, it is not how they have sex that is so fascinating, but how they use it, as it to maintain friendly relationships, to ease stress, as a form of commercial exchange, and to reduce violent conflict- yes, they use sex to make peace. Social interactions among bonobos are far less hostile than those between any other great ape species, especially the chimpanzee. Although bonobos may rarely fight, they have never been observed deliberately killing members of their own species. Bonobos both in captivity and in the wild have been observed using mutual pleasure and sex to keep peace and reinforce social relationships (Block, 2002). Page 2