MUCH ADO ABOUT BONOBOS: TEN YEARS OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH AT PLANCKENDAEL WILD ANIMAL PARK, BELGIUM.

Abstract This paper consists of two parts. In the first, we review the history of the bonobo group at Planckendael since 1993, describing group history, enclosure design and the different research topics of past and present. The second part consists of a case study of the utilisation of the outdoor enclosure throughout the past ten years. In 1993 only a few bonobos ventured outside. In 1997 all animals spent more than 50 percent of their time outdoors and this trend had stabilised by 2001. Interestingly the spread of participation indices decreased between 1997 and 2001, showing that the bonobos used the island more equally in 2001. Finally we compiled a list of 80 plant species that could be found on the island in 1997, and found evidence that bonobos ate at least 16 of these species. We show that applied ethology also has been part of our objectives and this will be more so in the future. Introduction The Bonobo Project at Planckendael Wild Animal Park (Belgium) of the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (RZSA) started in 1992. Its original aim was the fundamental study of the species in the zoo and in the wild, combined with in- and ex-situ conservation efforts. For this purpose, a new bonobo housing facility was designed, and in 1993 an adjacent outdoor island was completed. A special publication about the founding of the colony (‘Bonobo Tidings’, 1993) was edited in which some preliminary findings and some first events were described. In the current paper, we elaborate on what happened in the colony in the ten years that followed. We focus on group history, management and research programmes and show, by means of a case study on enclosure utilisation how the latter two have interacted.