Chimpanzee

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 faces are pinkish to black and the bodies are covered with long black hair (except their fingers, palms, armpits and bottoms of their feet). Chimpanzees don’t have a tail. Their opposable thumbs and toes help them grasp objects easily. Chimpanzees are quadrupedal, which means that they walk on all four limbs, although they can also walk upright (bipedal) for short distances. Their height is measured to be approximately 4 feet on an average. The males are 5.5 ft tall on an average and weigh between 90 and 120 pounds, while females are relatively smaller in height and weigh between 60 and 110 pounds. Their senses are very similar to ours, including hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch. Arms of these apes are very long and even longer than their legs.

Chimps 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.