De Waal "...Has Never Seen a Wild Bonobo."
 

Can it be true????

From the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...fa_fact_parker

Swingers

"Bonobos are celebrated as peace-loving, matriarchal, and sexually liberated. Are they?"

by Ian Parker

"This pop image of the bonobo—equal parts dolphin, Dalai Lama, and Warren Beatty—has flourished largely in the absence of the animal itself, which was recognized as a species less than a century ago. Two hundred or so bonobos are kept in captivity around the world; but, despite being one of just four species of great ape, along with orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees, the wild bonobo has received comparatively little scientific scrutiny. It is one of the oddities of the bonobo world—and a source of frustration to some—that Frans de Waal, of Emory University, the high-profile Dutch primatologist and writer, who is the most frequently quoted authority on the species, has never seen a wild bonobo. "

Lots more at www.newyorker.com or in hard copy at your Barnes or Borders...

JB