Chimpanzee Profile Common Name: Chimpanzee Scientific Name: Pan (all) Troglodytes (cave dwellers) Pan troglodytes – four geographically distinct populations - Pan troglodytes verus in western Africa
- Pan troglodytes troglodytes in central Africa
- Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii in eastern Africa
- Pan troglodytes vellerosus in Nigeria and Cameroon
Height: 3 to 5 feet
Weight: wild chimpanzees
Females – 70 to 100 pounds
Males – 90 to 130 pounds
Weight: captive born
Females – 66 to 176 pounds
Males – 150 to 200 pounds Distribution and habitat: Equatorial Africa
Habitat: Tropical rain forests, dry woodland savanna, grasslands.  Diet: Chimpanzees are omnivores and have been observed to eat more than 250 different food types.
Gestation: Eight months
Number of young: One baby, twins are rare Lifespan:
Wild born: 40 to 50 years, although a wild chimpanzee over 30 years old is considered geriatric
Captive: 50 to 60 years Status in the Wild: Endangered Fast Facts Did you know…  …That chimpanzees are great apes and not monkeys. Great apes include chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos. The first and most obvious difference is that great apes don’t have tails, while most monkeys do. The apes generally have larger bodies and bigger brains than monkeys. The bodies of apes are built for different forms of locomotion – brachiating which is defined as moving from one place to another by swinging the arms; and knuckle-walking – walking on the soles of their feet and the knuckles of their hands. The upper body of an ape does not bend, the shoulder blades are in back rather than on the sides, and they have long flexible arms and flexible elbows and wrists. Most monkeys cannot swing from branch to branch, as apes can, because their shoulder bones have a different structure. Instead, monkeys run along the tops of branches. Their skeletal structure is more similar to a cat, dog or other four-footed animal, and they move in the same sort of way.
Food-related behaviors  …In the wild, much of the daily activity is organized around the search for food. Up to 60 percent of a chimpanzees day in the wild is spent searching for food. Chimpanzees are omnivores; the chimpanzee diet in the wild includes fruits, leaves, blossoms, seeds, stems, bark, resin, honey, insects, eggs and meat. Food intake varies by season, consisting on an annual basis of about 60 percent fruits, 30 percent other vegetation and 10 percent animal matter such as young monkeys or duikers, a type of small antelope. Chimpanzees also consume ants and termites, often with the aid of tools.
Many of the tools that chimpanzees construct and use are associated with food. Sticks are selected, prepared and used to gather termites; rocks are collected to crack nuts and leaves become sponges to soak up water from hard to reach crevices. Chimpanzees learn to create tools from objects in their environment by watching others; they use sticks to extract termites to eat and crumple leaves to soak up water to drink. 
Chimpanzee males hunt, doing most of the hunting for meat. The males will hunt monkeys and small mammals in cooperative groups of 1-35 individuals. The kill is often shared with friends or allies or as a means to gain sexual favors. 
At Chimp Haven chimpanzees are fed fresh fruits and vegetables, protein in the form of yogurt, peanut butter and commercially available biscuits. In addition, the chimpanzees can forage for and eat vegetation found in their forested habitats. At Chimp Haven, Inc., chimpanzees use tools to access honey or oatmeal placed in a simulated termite mound. The chimpanzees have also been observed digging with sticks and soaking up water with leaves.
Friendships  …Chimpanzees form firm friendships, sometimes with family members, but also with unrelated individuals. Some friendships may be brief and short lived; others may endure for a lifetime.
Chimpanzee friends enjoy each other’s company, look to one another for support, and know each other so well that actions are often anticipated. Chimpanzee friends will eat, travel, rest and sleep near each other. They will groom one another, play together, and seek comfort or reassurance from each other. Each chimpanzee has a distinct personality that may draw him to one individual or cause him to dislike another. 
As profoundly social beings, chimpanzees need the companionship and relationships they share with others. Chimpanzees live in what is called a “fission-fusion society. They live in groups of males and females of various ages. Groups average four to eight individuals, which may come together, or fuse with other groups to form a community that varies from 20 to 100 chimpanzees. At Chimp Haven chimpanzees live in social groups based on their individual needs. Some of the chimpanzees have arrived with long-time friends, while other chimpanzees are forming new friendships. The chimpanzee friends may patrol the habitat together, walking single file along the perimeter or they may just rest in the sunshine sitting quietly beside each other. Although most of the chimpanzees at Chimp Haven are adults, we often see friends playing and laughing together.
Endangered  …Chimpanzees are an endangered species. Chimpanzees are found in 21 African countries, the west coast of the African continent to as far east as western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania. Chimps live in the greatest concentrations in the rain forest areas on what used to be the equatorial forest "belt." Unfortunately, the rapid deforestation in Africa has eliminated the belt, leaving only fragmented patches of forest where it once stretched.
Even though wild chimpanzees are endangered, we currently are facing a surplus of captive chimpanzees living in research facilities throughout the country. These are the chimpanzees that are waiting to come home to Chimp Haven. Click Map Image For Larger View
Chimpanzee Infants  …Chimpanzee family life revolves around the mother. Paternity is probably unknown, but siblings, at least as youngsters, maintain a strong relationship with their mother. Chimpanzee infants are carried by the mother, clinging to her stomach for the first 30 days of their lives. After five or six months, the infant will begin to ride on the mother’s back but will remain in close contact with the mother until they are over 3 years old. Chimpanzee infants are not weaned until they are between 4 and 6 years of age. Until that time, mother and infant will share a nest.
At Chimp Haven all the male chimpanzees receive vasectomies before their arrival at Chimp Haven. Chimp Haven, Inc. currently has one infant living with her mother in a forested habitat.
Physical Similarities    ….Chimpanzees are very similar to humans. Look closely at the chimpanzee’s hands and feet. Chimpanzees have a large toe that turns outward, giving them greater dexterity for climbing in the trees. Chimpanzees also have a thumb and although they do not have the precision grip of humans, it gives them the ability to complete many tasks. Chimpanzees have fingernails and toenails; they have lines on their palms and unique fingerprints like we do.
Chimpanzees and humans share blood types; we have similar organs, brains, and susceptibility to disease. Chimpanzees can get colds, pneumonia, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. And many of these diseases are treated in the same way in chimpanzees as they are in humans. Chimpanzees have hair that covers most of their bodies which may turn thin and gray as they age. Look closely at the chimpanzee’s eyes. The eyes of chimpanzees are similar to our own and although their vision is similar to ours, we are more sensitive to light at the red-yellow end of the spectrum. Chimpanzee’s eyes are brown, usually with no white showing, although there are rare exceptions. At Chimp Haven many of the chimpanzees suffer from the diseases we often associate with advanced age. Chimpanzees are currently being treated for things including diabetes, arthritis, and cardiovascular disease.
Wild born chimpanzees  …Since they may live half a century or more, some chimpanzees who were born in Africa and brought to the United States as youngsters, are still alive today. Despite decades in laboratories, they remember natural chimp behavior, like nest building, how to climb a tree and termite fishing taught to them by their original families. Given the opportunity, they will teach captive-born chimpanzees those skills.
Chimp Haven can provide a supportive environment in which captive-born chimpanzees will be exposed to the normal behaviors of their wild counterparts, thus enriching their lives and preserving the behavioral integrity of the species. The chimpanzees that are climbing the trees in the forested habitats, making tools, and making nests are predominantly wild born chimpanzees.
Chimpanzee Communication  …Chimpanzees communicate with one another through facial expressions, body movement, postures, touch and vocalizations. They are able to communicate a wide range of emotions from excitement to anger to grief.
When reunited after a separation, chimpanzees may greet each other with pants, touches, open-mouthed kisses or a bout of play. These are just some of the physical expressions of affection between chimpanzees. Mothers caress their infants; they tickle them, groom them and kiss them. Physical contact with another chimpanzee is an important part of chimpanzee life from the start. In the wild, chimpanzees have a complex communication system; in captivity, they are able to learn American Sign Language and other symbol languages. Scientists studying chimpanzees have identified 32 different calls that are versions of four call types: grunts, barks, screams, and hoots.
Play  …Chimpanzees play. They may play by themselves, making up games with any available object, running for the joy of it, or somersaulting and spinning for fun. Chimpanzees also play with each other, by jousting, tickling, chasing, or wrestling with one another. Usually it is the younger chimpanzees that engage in play but older chimpanzees play as well. Chimpanzees laugh as they play and it is an undeniable sound of glee.
At Chimp Haven we often see the adult chimpanzees engaged in bouts of play. Sometimes the play bouts include chasing each other – a little slower than their younger counterparts, or gently tickling each other and laughing.
Chimpanzee Politics  …There is a definite, mostly linear, dominance hierarchy between males in a chimpanzee community. The dominant male is called the alpha male. The dominant male often charges and “displays” by bristling his hair, dragging or shaking branches and banging or stomping on whatever he can find. These displays serve to make a male chimpanzee look large and powerful, often more so than he may actually be. Males will often use objects as clubs or missiles during these displays. Power-wielding coalitions are formed between individuals of both sexes. The ability of a male to enlist support during conflict is one of the most important factors in attaining and maintaining his rank. A male does not have to be the largest or the strongest of the group to attain alpha status – a smart, cunning male that knows how to manipulate social situations may gain the top position with the appropriate allies and friends. The alpha male typically keeps the peace in the group by settling disputes and maintaining the social order. Most disputes within a community can be solved by threats rather than actual attacks. Alpha tenure lasts between three and 10 years and only a few males achieve the top rank. Alpha status has several advantages. Alphas frequently take meat from others and supplant individuals at rich food sites. Access to females and the reproductive benefits that follow are one of the biggest advantages of being the alpha male.
Chimpanzees are territorial and will wage what we might describe as “war” with neighboring communities. Home territories can range from 30 to 150 square miles. Chimpanzee males patrol the boundaries of their home range and have been observed staring into the neighboring communities territory. They will also make short forays into the territory in search of enemies. Strangers are not well received into established communities except in the case of a female who is ready to mate. A meeting between two rival groups can result in serious injuries and even death.
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Chimpanzees are very social primates that use facial expression, vocalizations, body language to communicate with members of their group. 
