Bonobo hunting is female‑led

A decade‑long field dataset from LuiKotale shows female bonobos initiate and succeed at the majority of prey captures (60% of identified hunts), keep carcasses, and continue hunting while carrying infants; males and females hunt dangerous arboreal prey equally, but older females specialize in terrestrial game. This reverses the simple link between hunting and male dominance and suggests hunting can be a female status and provisioning strategy in some apes. — Challenges simple evolutionary narratives that tie hunting to male authority and invites rethinking how sexed foraging roles shape social power — a useful corrective in debates about human origins, gender essentialism, and status formation.