These sub-groups can be very flexible, with members changing quickly and regularly. Yucky, eh? Well, it might sound a bit gross to us, but grooming is an super important activity for these cool critters — it not only keeps them clean, but helps them build friendships and strengthen bonds with each other, too. Fruit is at the top of their menu, but they also tuck into leaves, flowers, seeds, bird eggs, insects and even other animals, too, such as monkeys and wild pigs.
Some groups of chimps eat up to different kinds of food , in fact. Chimpanzees have been known to crack open nuts with rocks, fish out insects from nests and logs using sticks, and shelter from the rain by holding up leaves like umbrellas. Impressive stuff! Sadly, since the early 19th century populations have declined because of habitat loss, hunting and capture for use in zoos, circuses and medical research.
While you wait for it to be checked and approved why not to add a pre-selected message and a cool badge. Chimps are truly fascinating animals, especially the fact that they are I hope sooner in the coming generation chimps are taken of the endangered list, as losing such animal would be devastating. Now I think gorillas are my favourite animal because I learnt more about them! Ask a parent or guardian to check it out first and remember to stay safe online.
The total population is thought to be about 21,, individuals. Small, relict populations are found in Burundi and south-eastern Sudan. The Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee is the least numerous subspecies with a total population of less than 6, individuals remaining in Nigeria and Cameroon, north of the Sanaga River.
The only relatively large and secure populationis in Gashaka-Gumti National Park in Nigeria, with an estimated population of up to 1, View Chimpanzee populations in a larger map. What are the main threats? The main threats to the chimpanzee are habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat. The relative severity of these threats differs from region to region, but the two are linked. Habitat loss and degradation Degradation of forests through logging, mining, farming, and other forms of land development is contributing to the decline of primate species throughout tropical Africa.
Remaining habitat patches are often small and unconnected, leaving chimpanzee populations isolated. Deforestation is most advanced in West Africa, where only remnant tracts of primary rainforest remain.
The small populations of western, Nigerian, and eastern chimpanzees are primarily located in remnant forest reserves and national parks. In many such "protected areas", poaching for meat and live infants is common, as is unauthorized logging, mining and farming. Logging activities improve access to formerly remote forest areas, leading to increased hunting pressure.
More on habitat loss Bushmeat 'Bushmeat' has always been a primary source of dietary protein in Central and West African countries. However in recent years, hunting for bushmeat, once a subsistence activity, has become heavily commercialized and much of the meat goes to urban residents who can afford to pay premium prices for it. In addition, apes are often injured or killed in snares set for other animals.
Infant chimpanzees are frequently taken alive and sold in the cities as pets. Many conservationists believe that the bushmeat trade is now the greatest threat to forest biodiversity in West and Central Africa. Disease - the Ebola crisis In late an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in humans was reported in the north of the Republic of Congo on the border with Gabon. The human infections coincided with a large-scale die-off of great apes in the region.
Two great apes are found in Central Africa, the area currently affected by Ebola: western lowland gorilla and the central chimpanzee.
Both have been severely affected by the virus, which has drastically reduced populations. This includes the use of sticks to retrieve termites from their mounds, stones to open up appetising nut contents, and leaf-sponges to soak up drinking water.
A study in discovered that wild chimpanzees are more likely to use tools if they travel further on a regular basis. Some chimps tend not to travel more than 2km from home in a day, while others will move up to 10km per day, and the researchers found that the regular travellers used more tools of a wider variety.
This also ties in with what we see in other great apes — gorillas and orangutans rarely travel far and rarely use tools. Modern hunter-gatherer humans on the other hand walk up to km per day, and they fit the pattern by using a much wider variety of tools than any of our great ape cousins.
The authors of the study even suggested that travel could have been one of the key driving forces behind the early development of tool use in prehistoric humans. However, although bonobos travel similar distances to chimps, they use surprisingly few tools, and tool-use for food extraction has not been observed. The fact that chimpanzees and bonobos show similar tool use capabilities in captivity however suggests that they may have different ecological and social opportunities for tool use in the wild, or that the are not as naturally predisposed to use tools.
Chimps can be very aggressive. Groups of males will plan and execute attacks on other chimps, often causing serious injuries and fatalities. Fights for dominance within a tribe can also be brutal and will often end in the death of an ousted male. Serious, fatal chimpanzee attacks on humans have also been reported. Fatal attacks have normally been on local children who live in or near the forest homes of chimpanzees, and several instances have been reported of chimps kidnapping and eating human babies.
There have been a couple of extremely serious attacks by captive chimpanzees in the US that received widespread media attention. As well as using tools, some chimpanzees have even been able to learn basic human sign language. Chimpanzees are omnivorous, but eat fruit more than anything else. Scientists have long known that chimpanzees are closely related to humans and recent genetic sequencing has revealed that humans share 99 percent of their DNA with chimps.
But when it comes down to developing facial features, the many difference lie with how that percent-similar DNA is regulated and expressed.
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