Chimpanzee | Wildlife Info and Photos-Images

Chimpanzee are mainly found in rain forests and wet savannas. While they spend equal time on land and in trees, they do most of their feeding and sleeping in trees.Chimpanzees are the great apes, which belongs to the genus Pan, very closely related to humans (splitted about 4-6 million years ago). They share the Hominidae family along with the gorilla, humans and thee orangutans. Two species of chimpanzee can be found today, viz. Pan troglodytes (found near the west and central Africa) and Pan paniscus (found in the forests of democratic republic of Congo). Due to rapid deforestation of their habitats they are listed under the endangered species. In 1973 Mary-Claire king found 99% similarity between human and chimpanzee DNA, since then in several researches upto94% of similarity have been found.

Chimpanzee are diurnal (but often active on moonlit nights) and begin their activities at dawn. After descending from their night nests they hungrily feed on fruits, their principal diet, and on leaves, buds and blossoms. After a while their feeding becomes more selective, and they will choose only the ripest fruit. They usually pick fruit with their hands, but they eat berries and seeds directly off the stem with their lips. Their diet consists of up to 80 different plant foods.

Chimpanzee live in communities having multi-males and multi-females. These communities are composed of about 50 animals having many families living together. One alpha (the highest) male leads the community. He is the highest-ranking male and controls the group maintaining order during any disputes or conflict. Chimpanzees are omnivores; they can eat fruits, nuts, seeds, insects and sometimes meat by hunting smaller animals. Socially they are the wisest of all the existing animals. They have been sighted using handmade tools for their day to day work. Average lifespan is about 50 years; gestation period is 8-9 months and at the age of about 12-13 years they are able to reproduce.

 Chimpanzee

 Chimpanzee

 Chimpanzee

 Chimpanzee

Chimpanzee