Chimpanzees could seem like attractive exotic pets with their human-like expressions and entertaining antics. They are very difficult to properly care for. While they are intelligent and affectionate, this intelligence can lead to boredom and destructive behavior. Chimpanzees thrive in social settings so you have to be able to dedicate a lot of time to these animals and have a large, durable enclosure in which you can house them. Chimps need a wide range of diets to stay healthy. Most people don’t have enough money to meet their care needs. If you can afford it, buy your chimpanzee on our website and we will give you all the advice on its care and an online follow-up for the first year for free.

The common chimpanzee is a large primate with uniformly black hair, except for the face, ears, palms of the hands and soles of the feet, toes and fingers, which are hairless and pinkish, dark or mottled depending on the subspecies. The face is flat and the eyes slightly sunken in their sockets are surmounted by bulging eyebrows. The mouth is prominent and the lips extremely mobile. The ears are large and round. The stocky and rounded body does not have a tail. The limbs are equipped with fingers whose thumbs are opposed to the others, themselves ended by nails, which allow a greater sensitivity in the prehension of the objects. The length of the arms reaches one and a half times the length of the torso, while the hind legs are shorter and generally flexed. The primate can adopt a quadrupedal gait in its semi-erect position, or bipedal. But the latter is more awkward. It is a powerful animal with muscular arms.

Chimpanzee diet

The chimpanzee is mainly vegetarian. It feeds mainly on plants and fruits but can be opportunistic on occasion by also eating honey, eggs, insects and even small mammals. It can in certain circumstances practice infanticide and cannibalism. As early as 1977, the primatologist Richard Wrangham noted that the primate practiced self-medication by ingesting leaves, leaves mixed with soil, or by gnawing bark. The analysis of the compounds of these plants allowed the isolation of molecules used in medicine.

chimpanzee habitat

There are four subspecies of chimpanzees found in environments as varied as grassy or wooded savannahs or tropical forests, from sea level to 2,800 meters above sea level. Its geographic distribution covers 22 countries in West, Central and East Africa.

The range of the West African chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) extends roughly from Senegal to Benin. The Nigerian chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes vellerosus) occupies the northernmost part of West Africa. The Central African chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) lives in the central rainforests, while the Schweinfurth’s chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthi) partially overlaps the territory of the former and is also found in the eastern part of central Africa. In 2002, primatologist Shelly Williams discovered an unidentified primate in the Democratic Republic of Congo known as the Uele gorilla. The animal has since been identified as a chimpanzee related to the subspecies Pan troglodytes schweinfurthi. It has been called the “Bili monkey”.

Chimpanzee behavior

The chimpanzee is a sociable animal that lives in family groups sometimes composed of nearly a hundred individuals. It moves over vast territories in search of food and builds a rough nest in the forks of trees every night. It seems that it is the male who dominates the group, often in a violent way because the animal knows how to manage the situations of conflicts only by using aggression. When he is irritated, he hits the ground and the trunks with all the power of his fists. But although it does not always know how to use diplomacy, the primate nevertheless experiences altruistic feelings when it adopts the young of a deceased female or sadness at the death of one of its own. It has a wide range of vocalizations, mimics and gestures, which it uses to communicate with members of its group. They also practice delousing and petting, which help to fight against stress and strengthen the social bond.

The chimpanzee knows how to use basic tools, just as the first humans did. They use sticks to capture termites or ants in their hiding places, stones or branches to break the shells of nuts, or they use pieces of bark that they wedge between the toes of their feet as “flip-flops” to climb thorny trees when they want to pick the fruit they love. Primatologists have recorded the use of 65 different tools. Knowledge of tool use is passed down from generation to generation, and not all chimpanzee groups use the same tools or techniques. When they hunt small game (antelope, monkey or even bushpig), they do so in groups to capture the victim and kill it.

Chimpanzee reproduction

The reproduction of the chimpanzee takes place throughout the year. The female can reproduce around 10 to 11 years old, and the male a little later, but 12 to 13 years old. The gestation period lasts about eight months, at the end of which the female gives birth to a single young that weighs between 1.5 and 2.2 kg. Like the gorilla, the young chimpanzee is breastfed and remains close to its mother for nearly four years. However, it can stay with its mother and the group for about ten years before becoming independent.

Threats to chimpanzees

The chimpanzee is particularly threatened by habitat destruction and fragmentation. In addition to deforestation, the primate is also threatened by the trafficking of young animals to be kept as pets, and poaching to provide bushmeat to city dwellers. Fetish beliefs and the consequences of the Ebola virus are not to be outdone. But solutions to stabilize chimpanzee populations are difficult to implement. This is why the primate, which has already disappeared from several countries, is considered endangered.