Story perspectives

Reassuring Touch Boosts Peaceful Co-Feeding in Bonobos, Chimps

7/22/2026

Summary

Story summary

Durham University researchers found that bonobos and chimpanzees who used reassuring touch before feeding co-fed more peacefully.
They filmed 116 apes from five groups during a five-minute pre-feeding period, recording 60 sessions over 10 hours.
Touching apes, female-female bonobo pairs and male-male chimp pairs, spent more time sharing food and showed “reassurance trains”; the study was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B and funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

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Story summary

Durham University researchers found that bonobos and chimpanzees who used reassuring touch before feeding co-fed more peacefully.
They filmed 116 apes from five groups during a five-minute pre-feeding period, recording 60 sessions over 10 hours.
Touching apes, female-female bonobo pairs and male-male chimp pairs, spent more time sharing food and showed “reassurance trains”; the study was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B and funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation.