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Chimpanzee
Pan troglodytes
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 Appearance
The intelligent, social chimpanzee
has a wide range of sounds and gestures for communication
and is probably one of the most expressive of all
animals. Thickset and robust, but more lightly built
than the gorilla, the chimpanzee has a strong body
and long limbs, the powerful arms being longer than
the legs. Its hands and feet are narrow and long,
with opposable thumbs on the hands. Males are slightly
larger than females. There is great variability in
the color of hair and facial skin, but the hair is
generally blackish and the face light, darkening in
older individuals. The rounded head bears broad, prominent
ears, and the lips are mobile and protrusible. Chimpanzees
climb well but spend most of the time on the ground,
where they generally walk on all fours, even though
they stand erect on occasion, as when their hands
are full of food. Body: 68 - 94 cm (26 3/4 - 37 in),
tail: absent, height: 1.2 - 1.7 m (4 - 5 1/2 ft) |
Description
Their social structure is more
variable than that of the gorilla. Rain forest animals
live in troops of males, of females with young, of
males and females with young, or of adults of both
sexes without young. The composition of the troop
often changes. Savanna chimpanzees generally live
in more stable troops of 1 or more males, several
females and their young. They occupy a home range,
the size of which depends on the size of the troop
and on the food supply. Neighboring troops meet with
much noise and communication, but there is usually
little aggression. At night, chimpanzees usually sleep
in the trees, each making its own nest with interwoven,
broken and bent branches. Young under 3 years old
sleep with their mothers. |
Regions
Africa: Guinea to Zaire, Uganda
and Tanzania in rain forest, savanna with woodland |
Diet
Active in the daytime, chimpanzees
rise at dawn and feed mainly on plant material, such
as fruit, nuts, leaves, shoots and bark, and on eggs
and insects. They will use stems or twigs as tools,
to extract termites or ants from their hiding places.
Savanna chimpanzees will kill young animals for food
by holding them by the hind limbs and striking their
heads on the ground. |
Breeding
Females have regular periods
of heat, with swelling of the genital region, and
may mate with all the males in the troop. Usually
1 young is born, sometimes twins, after a gestation
of 227 to 232 days. The young animal lives closely
with its mother for 2 to 3 years. |
 Status
Endangered |
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