Are bonobos truly the peaceful counterparts to chimps? New study says no

Bonobos for years have had the reputation of being the cool hippies of the simian world, with a “make love, not war” ethos, in ​contrast to their belligerent cousins, the chimpanzees. But is this reputation valid? A new study suggests it is not.

Researchers tabulated aggressive behavior such as charging, hitting, biting, slapping, ‌kicking and trampling among 22 groups of bonobos and chimpanzees – the two species that are the closest genetic relatives of humans – at 16 European zoos.