Violence Among Primates (including Bonobos)

New Scientist reviews Among African Apes, a set of field diaries by Martha Robbins and Christophe Boesch that explode the myth of peace and tranquility among other primate species, including the much-revered bonobos.

One small sample:

We also meet Volker, an ambitious young bonobo the researchers have followed for most of his life. Volker has close relations with Amy, a female whose baby the researchers believe he fathered, but the attention he pays her is finally punished: he is savagely beaten by his former friends. The biologists observe Volker’s screaming face as he clings to a tree trunk, then never see him again.

Source:  New Scientist:  CultureLab: Going ape: Ultraviolence and our primate cousins.