Except for humans, chimpanzees use lot of tools for many purposes than other creatures. Just like human, chimpanzees have also their own way of living. Human live in a house made in wood, cement or gravel constructed in a city or province but the chimpanzees shelter is made in woods or stones in the  forest and wet savannahs. Being in a forest can give them more safety. Wild chimpanzees can live almost 50 years and almost 10 more years for the captive chimps.

Chimpanzees eat nuts, blossoms, seeds, leaves and insects to live. Other chimpanzee facts states that they also hunt small mammals to eat such as monkeys or bushbucks. Unlike orang-utans and gorillas that has narrower diet; chimpanzees tend to live in a variety of habitats because they have a variety of tastes. Chimpanzee facts also say that when a chimpanzee mother dies, orphaned offspring are often adopted by their older brother and sisters while the infants are being adopted by chimpanzees that don’t have relation to them.

Chimpanzee’s intelligence has been proven through series of studies by experts. Chimpanzees are known to be the highly expressive and intelligent animals and they have the chance to live longer together with human because they can learn human languages like American Sign Language or (ASL) and some concepts of numerical sequence. They also come up with many hunting strategies that require cooperation. Chimpanzees communicate like humans. It is through hand gestures, nonverbal communications, facial expressions and vocalizations.

The use of branches and large sticks are the main weapons of chimpanzees to fight their enemies. They throw it to their enemies like humans and leopards. Chimpanzees are threatened to get extinct because some people are hunting them for commercial purposes and they also ruin their natural habitat in Africa. They might get extinct in the next few years because of the various human activities ruining their environment.

As have been said a while ago, chimpanzees are like humans. There are may be different but they have also some similarities that make them related to each other. Knowing and understanding such differences lead to harmonious relationship. Zoo and wildlife are not the animal’s real shelter. They only brought there because they became endangered due to the threat in their natural habitat.  Animals especially chimpanzees also need to be treated with respect and have the right to live in this world freely.

Chimpanzee’s Way to Live

The first use of the word chimpanzee as a name did not happen until the year 1738.  The term chimpanzee is derived from the word ‘kivili-chimpenze’ – a Tsiluba language which means mockman or apes.  The use of chimp as a colloquial term took place in late 1870’s.  The biologist used Pan as chimpanzees genus name.  There have been some reports that the chimpanzees including other kinds of apes were already known by Western writers during the ancient times but mostly as a legends and myths.  The word ape is mentioned by Aristotle, in the English Bible as well as in Qu’ran.  In 1640, the chimpanzee from Angola was the first chimp that was transferred from coast to coast .It was given to Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange as a gift and it was followed by several chimps for the next few years.  .  A number of chimpanzees were transported into Europe after 2 decades and most of them are acquired by different zoological gardens as a tourist attraction.

In 1859, Darwin’s theory of natural selection was published. It woke up the interest of the scientists and led to different studies of the chimpanzee facts either in wild or captivity.  At that time, the observers were only interested with the behaviour of chimpanzees because of its close relation to humans.  At the end of 19^th century, available chimpanzee facts and scientific information are very little thus they still remained unknown to humans. Pygmies is the term used by the scientist to describe the chimpanzees.

The 20^th century was the new phase of scientific research about chimpanzee facts. Prior to 1960, there was no known information about the behaviour of chimpanzees if they are living on their natural habitats. In July 1960, Jane Goodall went to Gombe forest in Tanzania and lived with the chimpanzees where she studied specifically the Kasakela community.  The ground breaking point was when Goodall discovered that the chimpanzees have the ability to make and use tools.

Robert Yerkes and Wolfgang Kohler are the first psychologists who did progressive studies which focused on the intellectual ability of the chimpanzees specifically in problem-solving.  They did some basic practical test that involves problem solving such as how to get a banana that is out of reach. Yerkes continued his studies and made intensive observations about chimpanzee facts until the World War II. Kohler on the hand concluded his study and published the Mentality of Apes after 5 years of study. Kohler concluded that the chimpanzees demonstrate intelligent behavior which was only attributed to humans before.

The History of Chimpanzees

The Chimpanzees can be easily distinguished from the other family of great apes and monkeys because of their physical features. There are some significant chimpanzee facts with regards to their physical appearance.  Like humans, their faces are flat, noses are small and with eyes that are facing forward.  The facial features of chimpanzees have implication to their senses.  Their reliance to vision is increased and they also have color and bifocal vision while their reliance to smell decreased. Their senses are very similar to humans including sense of sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.  Chimpanzees can also create different facial expressions which are distinct chimpanzee facts.

Instead of having fur, the body of the chimpanzee is mostly covered with long black hair and sometimes they can also have mustaches on their chin.  Their whole body is hairy except their ears, faces, palms of the hand as well as the soles of the feet which are bare skin. The color of the bare skin varies; it can either be black or pink.  Their arms are longer than their legs and they have a short body.  Chimps also have an opposable big toes and thumbs which mean that their thumbs are shorter than their fingers.  All their 4 limbs are flexible and these features determine how the chimpanzees move around.  The infant chimpanzees have a skin that is very pale and tail tuft that is white. However, these physical features disappear when they finally reach early adulthood. One of the chimpanzee facts is that they do not have tails and several mature female chimps become bald.

Other chimpanzee facts generally includes that the male chimpanzees are slightly heavier and larger than females. The East African adult males in standing position have a measurement of 3-4 feet tall and can weigh between 90-115 pounds or 35-70 kg.  On the other hand, female chimpanzees can stand at around 2-3.5 feet tall and weigh between 57 to 110 pounds or 26 to 50 kg. The baby chimpanzees at birth have an average weight of 2-4 pounds or 0.90-1.81 kg. The chimps that are found in West Africa or the ones in captivity can be even bigger.

The lifespan of chimpanzee in the wild is between 40 up to 50 years and in captivity they can live longer for about 60 years and above.  100 years ago, there were about 500 million chimpanzees living in the continent of Africa. But their numbers decreased because of human activities such as deforestation especially in Central and Western Africa. Today, the chimpanzees are considered as endangered species and the numbers left in the whole world is only about 80, 000 to 130, 000.

Distinct Physical Characteristics of Chimpanzees

Dr. Goodall observed that the culture of chimpanzees is just like the culture of humans. Their culture varies from the kind of environment where they live. The chimps show more than 39 behaviors including feeding, grooming, and tool use as well mating.

One of the amazing chimpanzee facts is their ability to use communication skills. According to the researchers, there are over 30 calls that have been identified and these calls are heard as far as 2 miles.  Chimpanzee food calls are combination of barks, pant hoots and grunts to tell the other chimpanzees about the location of food. If these kinds of calls are intensified, it means there was a successful hunt that took place. When they sense something dangerous or unusual, they will make a ‘WRAA’ call that is long and loud. Young chimpanzees also produce a breathy laughter when they are playing.  The resting chimpanzees also emit soft grunts to sustain the communication between them.  Every chimpanzee has their own distinct pant hoot so that they can be precisely identified by other chimps.

Other chimpanzee facts includes that they are living in groups called unit groups or communities. The community size varies from area to area and it can be smaller or larger.  Their social structure can be classified as fusion-fission. This means that chimps wander around in subgroups approximately composed of 10 members. However, it always changes because some chimps travel alone or join with other sub-groups.  There are times when different members of a community come together for a gathering. This happens usually when there is a female chimp that is oestrus or there is an available food source on that certain area.

The bonds within the family of chimpanzee are very strong especially the bond between the mother and her offspring. The offspring are very dependent on their mothers up to 7 years old and they are always seen together.  Some chimps have a travelling companion such as their siblings or friends. Even if the groups are scattered, they can still maintain contact using pant hoot.

Other chimpanzee facts discovered by Dr. Jane are the ability of the chimps to use different tools just like humans. They use objects such as branches, stems, twigs, rock and leaves in order to do different activities such as drinking, feeding, weapons and cleaning themselves.  The use of tools are acquired and learned through observation and the knowledge is passed to younger generations.

The average hours spent by chimpanzees to look foods are about 6-8 hours. Their diet includes different varieties of seeds, leaves, plants and fruits.  The main components of their diets are fruits and vegetables while bird eggs, insects and meat of small to medium-sized animals are just additional food sources.

How Do Chimpanzees Behave

You may mistakenly distinguish a chimpanzee from monkey but one major difference that separates chimps from monkeys is its tail. When making a distinction between a monkey and a chimpanzee, you have to know that Chimpanzees do not have tails while monkeys do. Chimpanzee also has opposable thumbs as well as toes which helps it to grasp any object so easily. When it comes to diet, chimpanzees are omnivorous by nature and mainly consisting of plants, fruits, eggs, meat, and insects.

Here are some more interesting chimpanzee facts and amazing pieces of information that you need to know:

1. A female chimp can birth at any given time of the year but she does it after every 3 to 4 years.
2. Male chimpanzees are territorial and this could be attributed to the fact that female chimpanzees habitually change community during her adolescence while male chimpanzee hardly ever leaves its community where male chimps are born.
3. You may think that chimpanzees have a strong immune system but you have to know that they are also vulnerable and prone to catch human diseases such as influenza, measles, cold sores, ringworms and hepatitis B.
4. Chimpanzees possess the ability to work with tools. To get food, they poke on twigs and grass stems to get into the nest of ants or termites infesting on these things. They also are able to break even the hard nut shells by just using jagged stones.
5. Humans and chimpanzees are sharing DNA that exceeds 98 per cent. Thereby categorizing chimpanzees as the most intelligent among primates.
6. When you hear interesting and unique sounds coming from chimpanzees, don’t be surprised since they use their own complicated system means of communication through sounds.
7. Chimpanzees are members of social communities known as troops. This consists of quite a few dozens of animals where hierarchy is formed usually by the community’s adult males who are often led by what is called Alpha Male.
8. Similar to humans, chimpanzees likewise use branches and sticks as clubs to swat away or throw them towards their enemies.
9. It is not uncommon that chimpanzees may periodically organize hunts in catching small antelopes or / and monkeys.
10. Even though chimpanzees spend a lot of their time on ground during the day, they are both terrestrial and arboreal.
11. Scientists also noticed that chimpanzees utilize medicinal plants in treating their own injuries and illnesses.

Chimpanzees possess a lot of similarities when it comes to intelligence and attitude. Another additional fact, they groom and hold hands with their partners a lot and just like humans, they do touch each other more often and even kiss the first time that they meet. Truly, Chimpanzees are amazing and interesting.

Interesting Chimpanzee Facts

There are three main reasons why these chimpanzees are threatened to be extinct from the earth and all are caused by mankind.

ILLEGAL CAPTIVATION

Chimpanzees are unlawfully caught and vended as pets. The mother chimp as well as other relatives is very protective of their young but to no avail since captors are purposely capturing them even before reaching five years old. These baby chimps are being unethically kept as pets and miserably caged, an environment that is very far from their natural habitat. It is estimated that in an attempt to save one baby chimp, 10 of them get killed along the process, according to conservationists.

HABITAT’S DESTRUCTION

This is the primary cause why these chimpanzees are now endangered- destruction of their habitat. Looking back, there were more than a million chimps are dwelling in the deep forests and open grasslands of approximately 25 African countries. Today, this number has plummeted to a disheartening of approximately 200,000. It was during the 1960’s when this drastic decrease in the chimps’ population happened. Some countries in Africa, with the initiative of the local and government officials, are doing their best in order to save what is left of these chimps in their area. But barely 6 African countries to date have the natural habitat these creatures and other wild animals need for their breeding. The rest of the African countries’ forestlands are destructed and maid into farmlands. Illegal logging and lack of reforestation programs have left the chimpanzees homeless. Various industries as well as rod construction resulted to massive cutting of the forest trees in order to provide logs.

CHIMPANZEES ARE SLAUGHTERED FOR ITS MEAT

Due to scarcity of foods, localsliving the surrounding rainforests resort to slaughtering of these poor animals just for their meat. But there are those who thoughtlessly kill these harmless chimps for the sole purpose of trading, which most of the time is illegal. Some people are willing to pay a large amount to have a taste or eat chimp’s meat. But although the sellers make a lot of profit from this trade, it cost the chimpanzees’ endangerment. With estimated 4000 chimps getting slaughtered yearly, the existence of the chimps is jeopardized.

Conservationists around the world are trying their best in spreading awareness towards local and foreign people to participate in saving these endangered animals before they become extinct.

3 Reasons Why Chimpanzees are threatened to be in Extinction

Just like other chimpanzees they are both terrestrial and arboreal, meaning that they spend most of their time on the trees and on the ground. But during the night they climb to trees where they build their nest to sleep. Just like humans, they are very protective and live in communities of up to 200 members but they travel in small groups. They are also susceptible to the diseases that commonly plague human beings due to the similarities in the physiological and genetic structure of chimpanzees and humans. Most body parts of the Pan troglodytes verus (Western Chimpanzee) is covered with hair except for the palms of their hands, soles of their feet, fingers and face.

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach is the one who coined the term Pan troglodytes in his book Handbook of Natural History which was published back in 1779. Pan comes from the Greek god Pan while troglodytes mean cave-dweller, also in Greek terminology. The last term in it’s the scientific name of the western chimpanzee is attributable to Ernst Schwarz in 1934.

Western chimps’ population once stretched over from the southern part of the Senegal up to the Niger River, but nowadays, the largest populated area of the Pan troglodytes verus (Western Chimpanzee) are located in Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. According to the International Union for the Conservation of nature (IUCN), other population of the western chimpanzee still survives in Mali, Sierra Leone and Liberia; and in Nigeria and Guiniea-Bissau regions according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). The presence of Pan troglodytes verus (Western Chimpanzee) in Nigeria is not yet confirmed by the IUCN.

According to these two organizations that concern on nature, relict populations of the western chimpanzee still live in Senegal, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and in Burkina Faso. But there is also the possibility that Pan troglodytes verus (Western Chimpanzee) is already extinct in the forest regions of Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin and Gambia.

Just like the other subJust like the other subspecies of the chimpanzees, the Pan troglodytes verus (Western Chimpanzee) is also listed in the 2007 Red List of Threated Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered. The estimated number of the western chimpanzees in the wild is between 21,300 and 55,600, and they are expected to decline in the coming years due to some factors such as development, intrusion of humans in their natural habitat and poaching for their meat.

Due to this fact, it is best that humans have the initiative in saving this subspecies in order for the next generation to still see this creature. The loss of this special part of the ecosystem will do a lot of damage to the balance in the nature.

Pan Troglodytes Verus (Western Chimpanzee)

The etymology of this species comes from the Greek god Pan who according to mythology is the one who oversees the wooden glens, groves and fields, for Pan. Troglodytes are the Greek term for cave-dweller. The one who has coined this scientific name for the central chimpanzee was Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in the book Handbook of Natural History which was published back in 1779.

Aside from the above-mentioned area, you can also find central chimpanzees in the Equatorial Guinea, Angola’s Cabinda enclave, south-eastern region of Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s coastal extension and in the Central African Republic. The range of habitat and distribution of these primates are extended to the northern part of Sanaga River in Cameroon, to Ubangi River’s east which is the border of the two republics of Congo and to the south of the Congo River.

Chimpanzees are commonly found in moist forest in the tropical regions as well as in wet woodlands. You can also find them in forest-savanna mosaics of the area where the biomes meet from the level of the sea up to 3000 meters. Pan Troglodytes Troglodytes (Central Chimpanzee) have bigger ranges at the forest-savanna mosaics.

Back in 2007, the Pan Troglodytes Troglodytes (Central Chimpanzee) is classified as an endangered species at the Red List of Threated Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Twenty years ago this primate is considered as a vulnerable species but has been considered as endangered since 1996. There are only about 115,000 central chimpanzees that are alive according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), what but is that it is only an estimated number and may believe that their number is between 40,000 and 80,000. The large and robust populations of Pan Troglodytes Troglodytes (Central Chimpanzee) are found in those left undisturbed forests, some isolated and small populations also remains. It is expected the population of the remaining central chimpanzees will further decline in the next 40 years according to IUCN.

The decline in their population is due to several factors which include poaching, habitat destruction and Ebola hemorrhagic fever. All of these causes of decline are attributed to the increasing presence of human in their populated areas (development, de-forestation, agriculture) as well as political instability.

A lot virus that affects humans also affects chimpanzees due to the close relationship of their gene to humans, being the closest living relatives. Some of the diseases that these primates are vulnerable to include common cold, pneumonia, influenza, whooping cough, measles, tuberculosis, yellow fever and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). They can also contract diseases which are caused by parasites such as salmonellosis, giardiasis, schistosomiasis and filariasis. Due to this genetic characteristic, the Pan Troglodytes Troglodytes (Central Chimpanzee) are also affected by the diseases which commonly affect human beings.

Pan Troglodytes Troglodytes (Central Chimpanzee)

Adult chimps can weigh up to 65 kilograms in the wild. Males can grow up to 63 inches while females at 51 inches in length. Chimpanzees are stronger compared to humans even though they are lightweight as the construction of their muscles are far more effective compared to human beings. They are actually six times stronger. The entire body of chimpanzees is full of hair which is dark brown color but not their fingers, face, palms of their hands, soles of their feet and toes. The opposing characteristic of their thumbs on their toes allows them to grip the branches of the trees precisely.

Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthii (Eastern Chimpanzee) spends most of their time on the ground and trees where they build nests in order to sleep. They live in a community just like humans that ranges from 20 up to 150 members, but they mostly travel in small groups of few individuals. They use the soles of their feet as they walk and utilize their knuckles to rest. They can also walk uprightly but for a short distance only. When being bothered by predators, Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthii (Eastern Chimpanzee) screams aloud and uses any object that they can find to defend themselves. This protective reaction is common to them just like humans when threatened.

Eastern chimpanzees, just like the common chimps and humans are omnivores which means that they eat both meat and plants. Their diet includes seeds, leaves, fruits, bark, small preys and insects like termites and ants. They use tools such as twigs ad sticks in order to reach for these insects as well as hunting for small animals. Sometimes they also work as a group while hunting, for example, killing cubs of leopards. This act of is an effort to protect themselves from their natural predator which is the leopard.

But just like the other relatives of this primate, they also face extinction as they are listed as an endangered species in the 2007 Red List of Threated Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is a known fact that common chimps are widespread and abundant of those great apes (non-humans), the recent decrease in their numbers in East Africa is anticipated and will continue for the coming years due to the loss of their habitat and poaching for their meat.

Due to the genetic and physiological similarities of chimpanzees to human beings, they also succumb to a lot of diseases that plague humans. It is also important that tourism and research should be properly managed as they present some risk of transmission of disease between chimpanzees and human beings. Doctor Jane Goodall is the world-renowned scientist who extensively studied this subspecies.

Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthii (Eastern Chimpanzee)

The chimpanzees are classified as the great apes including the Gorilla, Orangutan and Bonobo. They can be found numerously in the rainforests of Africa and widely distributed from Tanzania and Sudan in the Eastern part and Angola and Senegal in the Western part.  Chimpanzee facts states that the largest population of chimpanzees are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo although in some areas they are already extinct.

Physical Characteristics

One of the important chimpanzee facts is their physical characteristics. Their body is bulky with long arms but their legs are short and they have no tail. Most part of their body is covered with black hair except the face, ears, toes and fingers which are all bare.  Their hands can firmly grip that permits them to hold and pick up things.  Their height can reach 3 to 5 feet and can weigh from 120 pounds up to 200 pounds.  Most of them are black and but when they reach 20 years old, sometimes their color change from black to gray.  The life span of chimpanzees in the wild is between 40 and 50 years while in captivity is 50 up to 60 years.

Habitat

Most chimpanzees live in tropical rainforests and wet grasslands or savannahs.  They equally spend their time on trees and land but they stay more in trees when sleeping or eating.

Behavior

Of all the apes, chimpanzees are the most sociable. They live in communities called troops and numbers can vary from 15-120.  The troop is made up of either all females or all males and sometimes mixed in a group. Sometimes, the troops also split into subgroups and is being led by a male.  Males rarely leave the community where they grew up while adolescent females usually migrate to other community.

Their discovery to use tools is one of the amazing chimpanzee facts. They can pick nuts that stuck from the tree roots and they can open shells using a stone.  By using twigs or grass stems as their tool, they poke the ant or termite nests and eat the insects that stick to it. In order to make a sponge, they chew the leaves, deep into the water and let it absorb all the moisture.  They also use large branches and sticks against their enemy such as humans and leopards.

They can both live in land and trees but they spend most of their time in the ground during daytime. Chimpanzee facts includes that they are quadrupedal, meaning they use their 2 arms and 2 legs when walking and fingers are half flexed in order to support the knuckles weight.  When walking in short distances, sometimes they also walk erect.

Chimpanzee facts also include their ability construct their nest at the top of the trees and sleep during night time. They can rapidly make a nest just by using tree branches. They bend the branches and intertwine them in order to create a platform and to finish it up; twigs are used to line the edges.

Diet

Chimpanzee facts state that they are generally diurnal or very active during daytime. Their main diet is fruits but also includes buds, blossoms and leaves.  Usually they pick fruits using their hands but they use their lips when eating seeds or berries directly from the stem. Their diet is comprised of 80 different kinds of plants and fruits with some amounts of insects, birds as well as small mammals. Aside from plants, they also eat meat in addition to their diet and their common victims are young goats and antelopes as well as young monkeys or baboons. Usually, male chimpanzees hunt for meat with the help of fellow chimpanzees.

Caring for the Offspring

Female chimpanzees in estrus or in-heat have a noticeable pink swelling skin on their bottom and that means they can now mate to different males. They give birth to one offspring every four to five years with eight to nine months gestational period.  The mother-offspring dependency period is quite long and offspring will breastfeed from their mothers up to five years.  For some years, they will still stay with their mothers to take care for their younger siblings.

One of the chimpanzee facts is that they are the noisiest of all animals. Their ability to communicate with fellow chimpanzee is amazing yet complicated.  A loud call that sounds like a ‘’WRAA” means there is something disturbing or unusual going on and it can be heard over a mile. They also make a “HOO-HOO-HOO” sound for hours while screaming, grunting and tapping the hollow trees using their hands.

Chimpanzees are also known as loving animals and one of the best chimpanzee facts. They usually hold hands, kiss and touch each other. They also groom on a daily basis and this is important to keep the strong bonds with fellow chimpanzee as well as in providing calm and comfort.  Often times, the adult chimpanzee has a companion and spend most of their time together. The older chimpanzees are patient to younger ones that are very energetic.

Predators

The wild is the natural habitat of the chimpanzees.  Wild forests are being transformed into farming site and other human activities while trees are being cut down. That is why the number of chimpanzees living in the wild is gradually decreasing and that is a chimpanzee facts. Like many other animals, they are also prone to diseases that can contribute to their declining number.  In West Africa, they are being captured and used for medical research.

There are three sub-species of chimpanzees that can be found across the forest of Africa from Uganda, to western Tanzania and Guinea. The bonobo is chimpanzee specie that can be found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Chimpanzee Facts