Facts About Chimpanzees are living mammals with close relation to human beings sharing 98% DNA. Chimpanzees are classified as great apes together with giant gorillas, bonobos, orangutans, and gibbons. Chimpanzees are further divided into four classifications namely; Central chimpanzee, Eastern chimpanzee, Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, and Western chimpanzee scientifically known as Pan troglodytes. Chimpanzees are estimated to have remained about 300,000 in Africa due to habitat loss, poaching, the human enclosure on the forests through mining, farming, and deforestation. Chimpanzees live in the tropical rain forest and they are the only apes that can be found in the zoo.
Chimpanzee are endangered species listed under the international union for conservation of Nature (IUCN) facing extinction due to habitat loss, poaching for bush meat, diseases like Ebola, and sometimes predators hunt them down, it is noted the population of chimpanzees drastically reduces due to the threats posed to them.
In Uganda alone there are over 5000 Eastern chimpanzees found in the tropical rain forest, a big percent of the chimpanzees is found in Kibale forest national park which also home to other 12 twelve primate species. Other forest includes Budongo forest, Kariju forest, Bugoma forest and Kyambura gorge in Queen Elizabeth national park among others.
There are some of the few facts to note down about chimpanzees and these include;
- Chimpanzees are the only closest living relatives to humans; they are the only apes that share a close DNA of 98% with humans. Young chimpanzee exhibit characteristics close to human expression clinging to their mothers for attention. The female chimpanzees nurture their young ones feeding them, carrying them on their backs as they wonder in the forest looking for food. Chimpanzees adapt to any environment and have the capability to learn sign language and other behavior changes.
- Chimpanzees are social in nature; they live in large communities called troops of about 15-50 individuals. The troop is composed of both males and females dominated by a solitaire male while members join and exit the group as they wish in search of other resources. Male chimpanzees give more social bond in the group than the females, chimpanzees shake hand and kiss sometimes when they meet each other.
- Chimpanzees walk on knuckles and can sometimes stand upright. An adult chimpanzee weighs 20- 70 kilograms and 1-1.5 meters high while standing. Facts About Chimpanzees, They are characterized by black-brown light fur. The skin on their face, ears, hand is bare and light-skinned for babies and changes as it grows.
- Female chimpanzees can give birth any time of the year, the gestation period take about 6- 8 months, chimpanzees usually give birth to twins or single kids. The female chimpanzee reaches a gestation period at 7 years but most of them don’t give birth up to like 13 years and males about 15 years. Chimpanzees have a life span of over 50 years.
- Chimpanzees are intelligent in nature and can easily adapt to any environmental and social changes, chimpanzees can easily learn sign language for communication and adapt to use tools through training. Chimpanzees have the ability to recognize speech though they have no ability to speak yet audible words yet.
- Chimpanzees communicate using vocals such as grunts, screams, and hoots at a long distance while they use facial expressions at a shorter distance with their fellows.
- Chimpanzees are omnivorous, they feed on leaves, roots, termites, insects, fruits, honey among others, they use tools like sticks to fetch out the termites in the tree hollows, chimpanzees use hands to eat and sometimes fetch fruits from the trees with their own mouth. Chimpanzees actively forage in the forest in the morning hours and afternoon and retire in the evening in their built nest. Chimpanzees 6-8 hours on the ground eating with a peak time in the morning and afternoon.
- Chimpanzees can be aggressive if they are attacked, they sometimes kill each other and other animals in the forests like antelopes, duikers, bushbucks among others.
Regardless of the threats facing the existence of chimpanzees, the mammal species little cousins to human beings is interesting to watch in its natural environment. In Uganda, there is already developed chimpanzee tourism through chimpanzee tracking at various protected areas in Kibale forest national park, Queen Elizabeth national park, kariju forest, and Budongo forest. Facts About Chimpanzees, A Chimpanzee tracking permit costs usd 200, and part of the money collected goes back to the community through community development and sensitization.
Mass sensitization of the communities living near protected areas and forests with chimpanzees, developing chimpanzee eco-tourism, and legal punishment toward poaching of chimpanzees is encouraged to ensure the survival and existence of chimpanzees
