Chimpanzees Might Be Just As Empathetic As Bonobos
Our closest relatives show empathy towards each other through consolatory behaviours.
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Psychologists observed the behavior of 90 sanctuary-living apes to establish whether bonobos were more likely than chimpanzees to comfort others in distress.
The team, led by Dr. Jake Brooker, found that both species consoled their peers at similar rates, with the greatest variation actually occurring within each species.
This challenges long-held assumptions that bonobos are the more empathic ape and instead highlights the variation within each species.
It is the first time that the two species’ consolation tendencies have been directly compared.
Offering comfort
The researchers studied 40 bonobos at the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 50 chimpanzees at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in Zambia.
In total, the team logged 1,400 hours of observation across the two species, focusing on how individuals reacted to a peer that had experienced a naturally occurring moment of distress such as a fight.
Differences within each species
They found that older apes were less likely to console than younger apes in both bonobos and chimpanzees.
This suggests that emotional sensitivity to others emerges early in ape development.
In bonobos, younger individuals were more likely to console others and be consoled.
In chimpanzees, young males and close social partners consoled the most.
Both species console each other in a similar way to humans, with behaviors including embracing, hand grasping, and touching.
Shedding light on human evolution
The research team say that collecting more data on different groups of apes in a variety of settings would be beneficial to further our understanding of our closest living relatives, which in turn could shed light on the evolution of human social behavior.
This study was funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation and has been published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
Reference: Brooker JS, Webb CE, Kordon S, et al. Within-species variation eclipses between-species differences in Pan consolation. Evol Hum Behav. 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106682
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