Page 40 - Present Day Wildlife_Float

The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), or ‘Chimp’ is a species of great ape that is, along with its
close cousin the bonobo, (Pan paniscus) the only species of the genus Pan, in the subfamily Homini-
nae a member of the Family Hominidae. There are four confirmed subspecies* of the chimpanzee
and a fifth not yet confirmed. They are native to tropical rainforests, woodlands, and savannahs
across central and western Africa. The average male chimp can stand around 150 cm tall, and can
be around 40 to 70 kg in weight with the females being slightly smaller.
*Subspecies
Central chimpanzee or the tschego (Pan
troglodytes troglodytes)
Western chimpanzee (P. troglodytes verus)
Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (P. troglo-
dytes ellioti (also known as P. t. vel-
lerosus))
Eastern chimpanzee (P. troglodytes
schweinfurthii)
Southeastern chimpanzee, P. troglodytes
marungensis

The ‘Chimp’ is very distinctive look-
ing; its body is covered in long coarse black
hair, but its face, hands and fingers, toes
and the soles of its feet are bare. It has long
arms and a hand with four long fingers and
a thumb. The presence of a thumb gives the
‘Chimp’, as with humans; a hand with
greater dexterity. It can pick-up, hold and manipulate objects with ease and as
a tree dweller, be able to securely grasp branches and climb with confidence.

The Chimpanzee is a very sociable animal and usually lives in communi-
ties that can number several dozen, and is led by an alpha male. Members of
the community will join together in small groups to protect their territory from
intruders and to hunt for food. When relaxing, the chimpanzee will spend a
good deal of time bonding with other members, by grooming and picking ticks
and dirt from one another’s long haired coat. Communicating with one another
is done by facial expressions, gestures and varying degrees of sounds, which
can make large communities very noisy places.

These great apes are very curious animals and have worked out the value
of having implements or tools to do certain jobs. Although they are not alone in
being able to use tools, birds and elephants have been seen using tools, these
apes have an advantage over the others; a very functional pair of hands. With
them they have learned how to use sticks, rocks, and even leaves as tools. They
can grasp a stick and use it to winkle out insects from their nests or dig out
grubs from logs. They can grasp a stone and smash it down on the hard shell of
a nut to open it. They have even learned how to hold leaves and employ them
to collect drinking water. They can, when taken from their natural environ-
ment, be taught to use their hands to perform certain simple tasks. However,
on its own and in its natural habitat this great ape shows no sign of advanced
conjunctive intelligence beyond its use of rudimentary tools.

The ‘Chimp’ is an omnivore, with its main diet being fruit and plants, and supplemented
with termites eggs nuts and even small mammals. However, given the opportunity the chimpanzee
will kill and eat monkeys, small antelope, and even tortoises, using their skills with stone to smash
their shells. It’s this tendency for the chimpanzee to kill larger animals that engenders fear among
local people, who believe they pose a threat to themselves and their children. Villagers living close to
a community of Chimpanzees will usually hunt and kill them. They will often take the young
‘Chimps’ and sell them as pets (A practice band by most countries) However, as some have discov-
ered, Chimpanzee’s do not make good pets, they are far too unpredictable, and can change in the
blink of an eye, from a cuddly little bundle to a raging and destructive animal.