Panbanisha, Famous ‘Talking’ Bonobo Ape, Dies At Iowa Sanctuary
Panbanisha, one of two rare bonobo apes famous for communicating with humans, has died at a struggling Iowa sanctuary, The Des Moines Register reported Wednesday.
According to the report, Panbanisha, 26, died Tuesday night from likely complications of a cold at the Great Ape Trust Bonobo Hope in Des Moines. Staff at the sanctuary desperately tried CPR for 90 minutes before pronouncing her death.
“Panbanisha failed to overcome the cold that all the bonobos have been fighting,” said an email from the director of the Des Moines sanctuary, Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh. “She was the most sensitive, the most creative, the most intelligent of all – she always sought the path of peace. Her Presence always filled the building.”
Born November 17, 1985, at the Language Research Center at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Panbanisha lived at the Des Moines trust since 2005. Including Panbanisha, there were seven bonobos at the sanctuary in Iowa.
USA Today notes that among the six surviving apes is Panbanisha’s famous 32-year-old half brother, Kanzi, who is called “the world’s undisputed ape-language superstar.”
“He converses with humans by selecting symbols on a tablet computer. He’s been interviewed by Anderson Cooper, and played piano with Paul McCartney and Peter Gabriel,” the news publisher writes.
According to Wikipedia, Bonobos are one of the most endangered species and there are around 10,000 to 50,000 left in the wild, all in Africa’s Democratic Republic of Congo. Along with the common chimpanzee, the bonobo is the closest extant relative to human, sharing 98 to 99 per cent of their DNA with us.
In memory of Panbanisha’s passing, watch a video of her using a lexigram in 2007:
