Chimpanzee hunts are led by males, and that was long taken as a hint about our ancestors. A ten-year study of two bonobo communities, published in Current Biology and reported in Dutch by Scientias, tells a different story. In 415 successful hunts with identified hunters, females did the hunting 60 percent of the time. They often started the chase, mothers joined in, and older females kept control of the meat. The two groups also chose different prey despite having the same animals around, which points to local custom.

The study undermines the idea that a gendered division of labour is fixed by biology. When people say something is natural, it is worth asking which relative they picked as the model.

Source: Scientias.nl (Dutch) (2026-11-08)
https://scientias.nl/jagen-alleen-voor-mannen-vrouwelijke-bonobos-bewijzen-het-tegendeel/

Summarised by the FTI newsdesk.