Female Bonobo Coalitions Dominate Males, Study Finds

A set of long-term studies involving six bonobo communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has found that female bonobos maintain dominance over larger males by forming coalitions, often with individuals who are not closely related. Over 30 years of observation, researchers noted that 85% of female alliances targeted males to suppress aggression and establish female-led hierarchies. These findings, published in Communications Biology, provide the first empirical evidence from wild bonobos that social intelligence and collective action, rather than physical strength, underpin female dominance. The research shows that coalition-building enables females to win conflicts, secure priority access to food and mating, and control group dynamics. Parallels are drawn to human societies, suggesting that female coalition-building can effectively counter male aggression and discrimination, both in the wild and the workplace. This work offers new insight into the evolution of social power in both bonobos and humans.