Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Family:	Hominidae
Genus:	Pan
Species:	P. troglodytes

The chimpanzee, or Pan troglodytes, is an ape species most closely related to humans and the bonobo. Chimpanzees live in the tropical forests and savannas of equatorial Africa, from Senegal in the west to Lake Albert and northwestern Tanzania in the east. So, how much does a chimpanzee weigh? Chimpanzees come in a wide range of sizes and looks, but when they stand up, they are about 1–1.7 meters (3–5.5 feet) tall and weigh about 32–60 kg (70–130 pounds).

Most of the time, males are bigger and stronger than females. Chimpanzees have brown or black hair coats, but only a short white beard covers their faces. The face, hands, and feet are black, but the rest of the body is white. When animals are young, their faces can be pink or white. Both sexes get bald on their foreheads as they age, and their backs turn grey.

Chimpanzee Lifestyle

Chimpanzees wake up at sunrise and spend their days in the trees and on the ground. After a long nap in the middle of the day, most animals eat the most in the late afternoon. Chimps use their hands & feet to move around in the trees, where they do most of their eating. With skill, they can also jump and swing (brachiate) from branch to branch.

Almost all movement over long distances takes place on the ground. Chimpanzees can stand up and walk but usually move around on all four limbs. This way, they can lean forward on the knuckles of their hands (knuckle-walking). Most nights, they sleep in nests made of branches and leaves that they build in the trees. Chimpanzees can’t swim, but they can walk through water.

Chimpanzees eat mostly plant-based foods. They eat more than 300 different things, mostly fruits, berries, leaves, flowers, and seeds, but they also eat bird eggs and chicks, many insects, and sometimes dead animals. Chimpanzees also hunt, both alone and in groups. They hunt and kill monkeys, duikers, bushbucks, and wild pigs, among other mammals. They also seem to use some plants as medicine to treat illnesses and get rid of parasites in their bodies.

Chimpanzee Reproduction

The female chimpanzee gives birth to a single child after about eight months of pregnancy. This can happen at any time of the year. The baby weighs about 1.8 kg (about 4 pounds), is almost helpless, and clings to the fur on the mother’s belly when she moves. The child rides on the back of the mother from about 6 months to 2 years. Weaning happens around 5 years old.

Males are considered adults at 16 years old, and females usually start having babies at around 13 years. However, only two of her babies usually make it to adulthood. Chimps live about 45 years in the wild and 58 years in captivity, but some have been known to live longer. For instance, Cheetah the chimpanzee, who played Tarzan in movies in the 1930s and 1940s, was said to have lived about 80 years.

Chimpanzee IUCN Status

Chimpanzees are an endangered species. Their numbers in the wild have dropped because they are hunted (mostly for their meat), people destroy their habitats by logging and farming, and they are being sold to zoos and research labs. The IUCN says that chimpanzee populations have dropped a lot since the 1980s, even though they have one of the largest geographic ranges of the great apes. Chimpanzees are also a source of food for lions and leopards.

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Social Behaviour

Chimpanzees are more outgoing than either gorillas or orangutans because they are more active. They are very social and live in loose groups called communities or unit groups. These groups are made up of adult males who know each other and live in the same territory. Communities who live in the forest can have home ranges that are as small as a few square kilometers, but groups who live in the savanna can have home ranges that are hundreds of square kilometers.

There can be as few as 20 members in a community or well over 100. Each is made up of a number of smaller groups with different sizes and compositions. There is social dominance, and adult males have more power than adult females and young males. A community has 2-3 times as many adult females as adult males. The number of adults is about the same as the number of young ones. Parties, which are smaller groups within a community, often consist of individuals of different sizes. Male chimpanzees have a very fluid dominance hierarchy. Individuals can hang out with each other and join or leave different subgroups as they please.

The dominant (alpha) male chimp of a group can keep all of the ovulating females to himself by acting possessively. On the other hand, a group attack by males below him can get rid of an alpha male. Males stay in the community where they were born their whole lives, but a young boy may move with his mother to a different community.

Unlike males, most females leave their birth group when they are 11 years old to join a nearby group. Most of the time, female chimps are with their young or with other females.

Other Chimpanzee Interesting Facts

Chimps from different groups usually don’t get along with each other. The chimpanzee attack intruders and adult males do boundary patrol. Rarely will a group move into a neighboring territory that is much smaller, killing people in the smaller group. Adult males &, to a lesser extent, adult females have been seen killing babies and eating them.

Not only babies from nearby groups but also babies born to females who just moved to the country are victims. Most likely, this kind of violence is because of competition between and among individuals of the same sex. Males and females sometimes get together and have exclusive mating relationships. They do this by leaving the rest of the group and staying on the edge of the group’s range. But this strategy makes it more likely that nearby groups will attack.

Chimpanzees have complicated ways of getting along with each other, like working together in battle and building coalitions and alliances by foraging together, grooming each other, and sharing meat (sometimes in exchange for mating opportunities).

For example, an alpha male might try to stop his rival from mating with a third party because that could hurt the alpha’s status. On the other hand, the third person could be strategically opportunistic since helping either side could decide which of his superiors wins. So, chimpanzees seem to have some idea of what it means to “trade.” During a fight, they comfort, makeup, and fight back.

Because of this, they have feelings and psychological traits that are similar to those of humans, such as self-awareness, curiosity, sympathy, grief, and attribution. Chimpanzees take care of orphaned babies, but they also tease individuals with disabilities, hide information that would hurt them, and use deceptive postures, gestures, and facial expressions to get what they want from other groups.

Chimpanzee Intelligence

Chimpanzees are very smart and can figure out how to solve many different kinds of problems that humans give them. Several scientists have taught chimpanzees sign language or languages based on the use of tokens or pictures.

But there has been disagreement about what these studies of language mean. Critics say that apes don’t have true language because they don’t understand “words” as abstract symbols that can be put together in different ways to make sense. Other researchers say that the chimpanzees’ more recent language training has given them a true understanding of “words” as abstractions that can be used in new situations.

Chimps talk to each other in the wild through facial expressions, body language, and a wide range of sounds, such as screams, hoots, grunts, and roars. Males show how excited they are by standing straight up, stamping their feet or swaying, and yelling in a group. Chimpanee uses louder calls and gestures (like drumming on tree buttresses) to talk to each other from far away, and they use quieter calls and facial expressions to talk to each other from close up. Their “play panting” and “grinning” might look like laughter and a smile, respectively.

FAQs: Chimpanzee

Are Chimpanzee Friendly To Humans?

Yes, from what we’ve seen, chimpanzees are friendly toward people. Chimpanzees are one of the most popular types of primate in East Africa. People who like primates are always excited to see chimpanzees when they go to East Africa.

Is A Chimpanzee Stronger Than A Gorilla?

So, how strong is a chimpanzee? A typical gorilla is four to six times stronger than a chimpanzee. Gorillas and chimpanzees rarely fight because many gorilla families live together peacefully, even though chimpanzees aren’t as strong as gorillas.

Are Chimpanzees A Good Pet?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Even when they are babies, chimpanzees are wild animals that are very strong and unpredictable. The illegal pet trade is a big reason why the futures of chimpanzees and many other primates are in danger (including bonobos). So, many people think about how much is a chimpanzee or how much does a chimpanzee cost? However, you should not buy them.

Is A Chimp Stronger Than Human?

Since the 1920s, both anecdotal evidence and more controlled experiments have shown that a chimpanzee can be stronger than a human.

What Is The IQ Of A Chimpanzee?

Researchers have found that chimpanzees have an IQ between 20 and 25, which is about the same as the average IQ of a human toddler whose brain is still developing and learning how to use different cognitive skills.

Are There Hairless Chimpanzees?

Some animals, such as hairless chimpanzee, are born without hair, while others lose it for other reasons. These Pan troglodytes chimpanzees have alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss and also happens in people. A chimpanzee with no hair in Oxfordshire, England.

Are Chimpanzees Aggressive?

Experts show that chimpanzees can be just as violent and aggressive toward each other as people.

Is A Chimpanzee A Monkey?

It’s a widespread misunderstanding that chimps are incapable of language. The chimpanzee is not a monkey. The majority of primates can be sorted into two groups: great apes and monkeys. The absence or presence of a tail is the most reliable indicator of whether or not an animal is a monkey or a great ape, though this is by no means the only distinguishing feature between the two.

Can Chimpanzees Talk?

Chimpanzees can’t talk because their vocal cords are higher in their throats, unlike humans. This is why they can’t control the vocal cords as easily as humans can.

Do Chimpanzees Fight Gorillas?

Experts say that chimpanzees attack and kill gorillas.

Who Is Smarter Gorilla Or Chimpanzee?

Even though chimpanzees are smaller than mountain gorillas, they have bigger brains, which makes them smarter than gorillas. This means that chimpanzees are smarter and better at putting food away than mountain gorillas.

Can Chimpanzees Cry?

People can do two things with their bodies that chimpanzees can’t: blush and cry.