Title: Expressing support for designation of February 14 as World Bonobo Day.
Policy area: Animals

Summary:
This resolution expresses support for the designation of World Bonobo Day and encourages participation in activities that help to educate the public about the need to protect bonobos as endangered great apes.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 135 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 135

 Expressing support for designation of February 14 as World Bonobo Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 14, 2019

 Mr. Peters (for himself, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Cohen, Ms. 
 Jackson Lee, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. McGovern, Mr. McNerney, Ms. 
Norton, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Serrano, and Mr. Chabot) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing support for designation of February 14 as World Bonobo Day.

Whereas the Bonobo Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that seeks to 
        elevate the status of the bonobo, an endangered species, and coordinate 
        activities that support the preservation of bonobos in their natural 
        habitat;
Whereas bonobos are classified as great apes and are found only in the heart of 
        the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Africa, between the Congo River, 
        the Lualaba River, and the Kasai/Sankuru Rivers;
Whereas the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has placed 
        bonobos on the endangered species list, stating that there are as few as 
        15,000 bonobos left in the wild and their population is decreasing;
Whereas bonobos share almost 99 percent of the same DNA with humans and they are 
        closer genetically to humans than they are to gorillas or orangutans;
Whereas bonobos are the only matriarchal great ape, and female alliances enable 
        bonobos to maintain social dominance in their groups;
Whereas bonobos primarily resolve tensions within and between their groups 
        through sexual contact, not through fatal aggression;
Whereas the Bonobo Project works with other bonobo organizations, such as Lola 
        ya Bonobo, the only sanctuary for bonobos in the world; the staff at 
        Lola ya Bonobo work to rescue, rehabilitate, and release bonobos back 
        into the wild; and Lola ya Bonobo is located in Kinshasa, DRC, on 75 
        acres of forested land;
Whereas the Bonobo Project also works with the Wamba Committee for Bonobo 
        Research, located near the Luo Scientific Reserve in Wamba, DRC, which 
        is the original site for bonobo research founded by Dr. Takayoshi Kano 
        in 1973;
Whereas bonobos are an endangered species for several reasons, but mainly due to 
        poaching and habitat destruction and fragmentation;
Whereas seven United States zoos have bonobos including the San Diego Zoo, 
        Milwaukee County Zoo, Jacksonville Zoo, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, 
        Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Memphis Zoo, and Fort Worth Zoo; 
        the Milwaukee County Zoo sponsors the Bonobo and Congo Biodiversity 
        Initiative; several of the zoos support bonobo sanctuary, research, and 
        conservation efforts in the Congo; and the Ape Cognition and 
        Conservation Initiative near Des Moines, Iowa, houses and studies a 
        small group of bonobos; and
Whereas February 14, Valentine's Day, would be an appropriate date to designate 
        as World Bonobo Day: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports designation of World Bonobo Day; and
            (2) encourages the people of the United States to 
        participate in activities that help to educate the public about 
        the need to protect bonobos as uniquely matriarchal, loving, 
        and endangered great apes.
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