Five wild female bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo brutally attacked one of their male group mates, disfiguring his face almost beyond recognition, ripping off one of his ears, and biting his testicles in an unprecedented act of violence for the species, scientists report.
Researchers arrived a few minutes late to the scene, so they aren't entirely sure what sparked the ferocious act, which lasted around 30 minutes. However, they suspect the male bonobo may have tried to harm one of their infants, the authors reported Oct. 6 in the journal Current Biology.
