They are peaceful, female-led and use sex in everyday interactions. Now a new conservation scheme could offer a lifeline to our critically endangered close relatives living on the Congo river
A few dozen large nests appear in the mist of equatorial dawn, half-hidden behind a tangle of vines and leaves. That is where the bonobos sleep, 12 metres above the ground. But it has rained all night, and the primates are in no hurry to get up. It is 6.30am when the first head emerges. It gives a cry, a sharp bark, and another silhouette unfolds from its cocoon of branches. And then another. Within five minutes, the whole group is awake – yawning, stretching, straightening. Their features are fine, their limbs long and delicate, their build less stocky than that of chimpanzees, their closest cousins.
Bonobos live on the left bank of the Congo River
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/19/2025 - 05:00
10/19/2025 - 03:00
According to planning conditions, Wolborough Fen in Newton Abbot must be protected as groundworks are prepared for 1,200 homes
A 2,000-year-old wetland which is one of England’s most protected habitats has “bulldozers at its gates” after developers said conditions to protect it were blocking the growth the government is demanding.
Wolborough Fen in Newton Abbot, Devon, a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), must be protected from any damage by developers Vistry Group as they flatten hills and prepare the groundworks for 1,200 houses, according to planning conditions.
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10/19/2025 - 01:00
Exclusive: Environment Agency not testing for ‘forever chemical’ made by factory despite evidence of emissions
Regulators measuring “forever chemicals” near a Lancashire chemicals plant are not testing for a substance made by the company itself, despite evidence it could be reprotoxic and is being emitted in large volumes.
Reprotoxic means a substance can be damaging to a person’s sexual function, fertility, or their child’s development and, now,
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10/18/2025 - 18:01
Scheme will offer training for plumbers, welders and carpenters as well as promoting trade union recognition
Plumbers, electricians and welders will be in huge demand as part of a national plan to train people for an extra 400,000 green jobs in the next five years, Ed Miliband has said.
The energy secretary unveiled a scheme to double the number of people working in green industries by 2030, with a particular focus on training those coming from fossil fuel jobs, school leavers, the unemployed, veterans and ex-offenders.
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10/18/2025 - 18:00
Dr Tom May, a mycologist at the Royal Botanic Gardens and an expert witness at the Erin Patterson trial, has collaborated with renowned fungi photographer Stephen Axford for Planet Fungi, a new book from CSIRO Publishing full of incredible macro-photography
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10/18/2025 - 07:00
If Douglas Troutman is confirmed, the top four toxics office at the environmental agency will be held by ex-lobbyists
The US Senate is poised to approve Donald Trump’s nomination of an industry lobbyist to lead the US Environmental Protection Agency’s chemical safety office.
If the nominee, Douglas Troutman, is confirmed, the top four toxics office positions at the EPA will be held by former chemical industry lobbyists, raising new fears about the health and safety of the American public, consumers and workers, campaigners say.
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10/18/2025 - 07:00
Stoats have been an existential threat to Orkney’s rare birds but technology is helping to eradicate them
At first, the stoat looks like a faint smudge in the distance. But, as it jumps closer, its sleek body is identified by a heat-detecting camera and, with it, an alert goes out to Orkney’s stoat hunters.
Aided by an artificial intelligence programme trained to detect a stoat’s sinuous shape and movement, trapping teams are dispatched with the explicit aim of finding and killing it. It is the most sophisticated technology deployed in one of the world’s largest mammal eradication projects, which has the aim of detecting the few stoats left on Orkney.
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10/18/2025 - 06:54
Margot Raggett, whose latest compilation shows animals scrubbed from natural habitats, calls for rethink on UK accelerated housebuilding
Margot Raggett has spent the past decade raising money for conservation efforts around the world but now she feels nervous about the future. “It does feel like we’ve taken a backward step,” she said.
The wildlife photographer has raised £1.2m for the cause in the past 10 years through her Remembering Wildlife series, an annual, not-for-profit picture book featuring images of animals from the world’s top nature photographers. The first edition was published in 2015, when the Paris climate agreement was being drafted but, in the years since, efforts to tackle the climate crisis have been rolled back.
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10/17/2025 - 13:00
Researchers say decline in phytoplankton suggests weakened planetary capacity to absorb carbon dioxide
The world’s oceans are losing their greenness owing to global heating, according to a study that suggests our planet’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide could be weakening.
The change in the palette of the seas is caused by a decline of phytoplankton, the tiny marine creatures that are responsible for nearly half of the biosphere’s productivity.
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10/17/2025 - 11:31
Long-planned charge on greenhouse gas emissions postponed as Trump officials accused of intimidation tactics
Under intense pressure from Donald Trump’s government, countries have postponed plans to force shipowners to start paying for the damage they do to the climate.
US officials were accused of “bullying” and “intimidation”, as nations met in London for what should have been the rubber-stamping of a decision made months ago to place a small levy on the greenhouse gases from global shipping.
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