Bonobos and chimps say “hello”, just like humans
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A new study says that chimpanzees and bonobos say “Hello” and “Goodbye” to one another when they meet, just like humans do!
What is the bonobo?
The bonobo is a type of ape, also known as the pygmy chimpanzee.
Humans and apes are very closely related (they are our nearest relatives). So, this makes scientists very interested in studying them.
Recently, scientists studied chimpanzees and bonobos interacting with each other. They found that bonobos exchange gazes with each other when they meet. They hold hands, pat heads and even hug each other when they meet in a group. This is their way of saying “hello”.
The study also revealed that bonobos say “hello” to each other a lot more than chimps do. Moreover, they saw that bonobos behave more politely than chimpanzees.
Scientists also found that if the bonobos are close to each other (if they are close friends), then they spend less time saying hello. All this is very similar to humans. If we also meet a good friend in school, we don’t spend that much time saying hello or goodbye. This is because we know that the other person won’t mind even if we don’t say much.
Watch a video of bonobos below. Video credit: National Geographic/Youtube
Can animals behave like humans at times? In fact, some of them too! They look after their babies like us, adopt other animals, laugh like us and some are almost as intelligent as humans. We are sure you are curious to know many more qualities and characteristics that animals and humans share. Enjoy our animal news for children for more interesting reads.
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