Chimpanzee Facts, Strength, Height, IQ, Lifespan, and Habitats

Chimpanzee Facts, Strength, Height, IQ, Lifespan, and Habitats: What are chimpanzees? There are four subpopulations of the chimpanzee — the western chimp, the Nigeria-Cameroon chimp, the central chimp, and the eastern chimp.

With almost 98 percent of our genes in common, this giant ape is one of our closest cousins. They have short, stocky legs, opposable thumbs, thicker bodies, no tails, and lengthy arms that are 1.5 times their height and go all the way to their knees. The face, ears, fingers, and toes are bare, but the majority of their body is shrouded in long, black hair.

Facts About Chimpanzees

Chimpanzee facts:

SCIENTIFIC NAME: PAN TROGLODYTES

LIFE SPAN: UNKNOWN BUT ESTIMATED TO BE UP TO 50 YEARS

GESTATION: 6 TO 8 MONTHS

WEIGHT: 25 TO 70 KILOGRAMS (57 TO 154 POUNDS)

HABITAT: FORESTS, LOWLAND FORESTS, SWAMP FORESTS, SAVANNA WOODLAND

PREDATORS: HUMANS AND LEOPARDS

SIZE: ABOUT 1 TO 2 METERS TALL (3 TO 5.5 FEET)

DIET: OMNIVOROUS

ESTIMATED AT MOST: 300,000 REMAIN IN THE WILD

Challenges Faced by Chimpanzees

• Chimps are losing their homes: Chimpanzee populations in the wild are steadily declining. The increasing rate of forest destruction for farming, habitation, and other purposes is one of the primary causes.
• The chimpanzee is hunted for bushmeat: Bushmeat has traditionally been a well-liked source of nourishment for local people, but as hunting has grown significantly in scope and become widely commercialized, more and more of the meat is being consumed by urban residents.

Chimpanzee Behaviors

Like Humans, Chimps Learn Behavior From One Another

• The chimpanzee is a mammal most like a human: They are social, intelligent, inquisitive, and boisterous. Chimpanzees live in informal groups that range in size from ten to more than one hundred people. They will occasionally forage for food in groups and can share a home area where they guard against intruders. They have intricate behavioral patterns, many of which are learned, and are able to manufacture and use tools as well as solve issues and form plans for future events. Even using therapeutic herbs for a range of illnesses has been observed in them.
• They enjoy spending time together: Chimps frequently touch each other and may even kiss when they first meet. They groom each other and hold hands as well. A grownup frequently has a close friend that it hangs out with frequently. Adult male relationships seem to be the most robust within a group. They will groom one another four times as much as females do, and they frequently spend a lot of time together. Female chimps give their children a lot of attention and assist one another with childcare duties. Similar to grandparents, the group’s senior members are frequently very patient with young children who are full of energy. Social grooming is a significant social practice in their societies. Grooming not only aids in the establishment and maintenance of social ties but also aids in the removal of ticks, dirt, and flakes of dead skin from the hair.

Diet: What do Chimpanzees eat?

• Chimps are not picky eaters: They eagerly gorge themselves on fruits, which make up their main food, as well as leaves, buds, and blossoms after leaving their nighttime nests in the trees. After some time, they grow more choosy in their feeding and will only select the ripest fruit. Typically, they use their hands to harvest food, although they will take berries and seeds right off the stem with their lips. Their daily foraging time ranges from six to eight hours, and their diet includes up to 80 different plant items. They occasionally add meat, such as young antelope or goats, to their meals. However, other primates including baby baboons, colobus monkeys, and blue monkeys are their most common prey.

Habitats: Where do chimpanzees live?

With a span of more than 2.6 million kilometers, chimpanzees are the great ape with the broadest geographic dispersion. From southern Senegal to the forested region north of the Congo River to western Uganda and western Tanzania, they are sporadically encountered. The first park developed particularly for chimpanzees in Africa is Gombe National Park in Tanzania.