Chimpanzee – The Great ape Native to the forest and Savannah of Tropical Africa.
Chimpanzees are one of the great primates in Uganda that attract most of the tourist, theses shares at least 94% of its DNA with humans. Therefore they are our closest cousins, Sociable, communicative and intelligent, one of the chimp’s most amazing personalities is its ability to use tools such as rocks for smashing nuts, empty pods for raising water and sticks for drawing termites from their nests. All the above skills are passed from generation to generation; it has been perceived that different troops are experts in different tasks, depending on their habitat and diet.
Chimpanzees live in communities holding between 10 to 100 members. Some of theirs are like those of human being beings such as holding hands, groom each other, kiss, and babysit for each other’s offspring – young chimps do not become independent until around the age of four. But they can also be aggressive and unfriendly, particularly towards unrelated individuals.
However they consume most of time on the ground, chimpanzees regularly feed on and sleep in trees. Their various diets contain leaves, fruit, flowers and seeds.
Chimpanzee Facts
The average weight of an grown-up male chimpanzee is between 35 and 70 kilograms and a height of about 3 meters whereas an adult female chimpanzee weighs between 26 and 50 kilograms and a stature of between 2 and 4 feet.
The life expectancy of a chimpanzee’s is around 40 years even though those living in confinement can prolong up to 60 years.
Biologically, chimpanzees are the closest relatives to human beings jointly sharing almost 98% of their Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) conformation with people. Chimps are sociable, intelligent and communicative. Among their very interesting behaviors is the ability to use tools like rocks for crashing nuts, empty pods for burrowing out water plus sticks for catching termites from ground holes. These abilities are for a long time been genetically passed on from generation to another and scientists say that different troops have dedicated tasks, basing on their habitat as well as diet.
Chimps in clusters of 10 – 100 members can take care of each other’s babies, kiss, mentor one another and even hold hands. The young chimpanzees become autonomous at 4 year. Nevertheless, chimps can be hostile and antisocial if disturbed.
Even though chimps spend some time on ground, they routinely feed and prepare make sleeping nests in the trees. Their nutrition differs encompassing of seeds, leaves, fruit and flowers.