| Nyota | |
|---|---|
William M. Fields with Nyota |
|
| Born | 1998 Georgia State University |
| Parents | P-suke (father) Panbanisha (mother) |
| Relatives | Nathen (brother) Kanzi (uncle) Matata (grandmother) |
Nyota (pronounced en-yota) (born 1998), also known by the lexigram , is a bonobo. Nyota was born at the Language Research Center at Georgia State University. His mother is Panbanisha and his father was P-suke.
Nyota's name means "Star" in Lingala, a language from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa.[1] Nyota was reared by Panbanisha and Kanzi with primatologists Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and William M. Fields.[2]
As a precocious youngster in 2004, Nyota is instrumental to researchers investigating the cross-generational effects of language and culture in a second-generation bonobo reared in a bi-cultural environment. On Monday, April 25th 2005 he, his brother Nathan and mother Panbanisha moved to the Great Ape Trust in Iowa. His father, P-suke (died July 7, 2006 in Iowa), uncle Kanzi, grandmother Matata, and other relatives were also moved to the Trust.