Sexual competition in a group of captive bonobos (Pan paniscus)

We describe the occurrence of sexual competition, expressed as harassment o f sexual interactions in a captive group of bonobos. We monitored all aggre ssive and pestering interventions during sexual interactions of three capti ve adult females, one adolescent, and three adult males. The study period c overed two complete menstrual cycles for each female, with continuous daily observations. There was relatively little overt sexual competition by the males, in analogy with other studies. Most male interventions occurred towa rds interactions with the alfa female. The alfa female performed the most i ntense and the highest number of interventions towards the sexual interacti ons of the other females. The data provide evidence for female intra-sexual competition in this female dominant species.