Hippie chimps

The vegetarian bonobo chimps of the Congolese rain forest are rapidly disappearing because they're being slaughtered for their meat. Only about 5,000 bonobos remain, down from 100,000 just 20 years ago, reports the World Wildlife Fund. The peace-loving bonobos are often called "hippie chimps" for their practice of defusing potential violence through sex play. "This is an impoverished country, torn apart by war," Sally Coxe, founder of the Washington, DC-based Bonobo Conservation Initiative, tells VT. "Because villagers aren't getting enough to eat, demand for smoked 'bush meat' that can be easily transported from the jungles to the villages has escalated." Fortunately, the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (bonobo.org) is helping to save the chimps, in part by teaching the villagers to grow beans to supply their protein, rather than relying on meat.

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