Abstract
During the study period of the bonobo at Wamba, Zaire, 1991, two femal bonobos, which I called Judy (3 years old) and Kema (2 years old), were brought to the base camp. Their mothers had been killed by poachers. They had already been taken care of more than eight months at a Protestant mission. I began to try to rehabilitate them, with the aim of returning them to the wild. I took them to the forest every day and gradually introduced them to the members of our study groups, E1 and P. Two months after, I made contact with the P group and we left Kema alone to feed in the center of the group. I left the area because Kema would have returned to me if I had stayed in sight. I went back and looked for her after a while, but neither Kema nor any members of the P group could be found. When I went to the nesting site of the P group early the next morning, Kema was observed in an adolescent male's bed. He kept hold of Kema and she clung to his abdomen. Thus, Kema became a member of the P group. On the other hand, though we continued the rehabilitation to Judy, she could not be returned to the forest because of her extreme dependence on people.
