Animal Keeper's Association of Africa

NUTRITION

ENRICHMENT

Boxes rule. Scatter patches are cool; keeping fingers & toes busy is the clue.

TRAINING TECHNIQUES

ENCLOSURE NEEDS

NATURAL HISTORY

Order Family Genus & Species Primates Pongidae Pan troglodytes

Identification: A robust and powerful primate, the chimpanzee is our closest living relative. Individuals vary greatly in size and co lour but are generally 1 – 1.7 meters in height, weight between 40 and 50 kilos and have a shaggy black coat. They have a sturdy body with well-developed shoulders, arms, and the legs are rather short. The face is flat with small deep set eyes, a small nose, a broad, deep upper jaw and a wide, narrow lipped mouth. The ears are rounded and prominent. The facial coloration varies from pink in juveniles to black in full adults, with only a sparse covering of hair on the cheeks and forehead. They walk on the hind legs and the knuckles of the forelimbs.

Distribution and Habits: Restricted in distribution to the rain forests and woodlands of western Tanzania and Uganda. They generally live in small, loosely knit groups of 2 – 50 individuals. They are equally at home in the trees or on the ground where they forage throughout the day time, feeding on leaves, fruits, nuts, ants, termites and on occasions, young monkeys, antelopes and birds. They often fashion crude tools from twigs in order to extract larvae and other food items from holes and crevices. During the night they sleep in nests built in the trees from branches and leaves although on moonlit nights they will sometimes move about and feed. They are the most vocal of all primates and have an extensive vocabulary of sounds. Each grou[p has a territory or home range of between 8 and 20 square kilometers. Encounters between neighbouring groups elicit much display and vocalization prior to physical contact which, quite often, results in the death of rival members.

KEY FACTS

Size Variable: 100 cms – 170 cms
Weight: 45 kgs (average)
Breeding Gestation: 8 months Young: Usually 1, twins occasionally
Sexual Maturity: Males around 10 years Females around 9 years
Births: No specific season
Lifespan Around 40 years
Lifestyle Family: Small to large family groups
Diet: Omnivorous
Main Predators: Man and leopards
Habitat: Forests and woodlands
Conservation – Very few chimpanzees remain in East Africa. Their continued existence depends on large tracts of forests being left undisturbed, but such areas are under constant threat of clearance by loggers and agriculturalists.

VETERINARY NEEDS

OTHER