Chimpanzee

True Wild Life | Chimpanzee | The chimpanzee (chimp) is one of the largest primates, with the chimpanzee being most closely related to the human, the gorilla and the orangutan. The chimpanzee is native to Africa. There are two different species of chimpanzee, the common chimpanzee and the pygmy chimpanzee. These two species of chimpanzee are separated by the African Congo river so dont really come into contact with one another.

The chimpanzee is slightly smaller than the other large primates, with the average male chimpanzee getting to around 4ft tall. The chimpanzee lives until its around 52 years old, but chimps have been known to get much older in captivity. The chimpanzee is known to be a highly intelligent and sophisticated primate as the chimpanzee will regularly make tools to help the chimpanzee to get food. The chimpanzee also uses these homemade tools in social displays when attracting females and also in a method of defense.

The chimpanzee is an omnivore meaning that the diet of the chimpanzee consists of both plant and animal matter. When the chimpanzees hunt, they use complicated strategies which require the chimpanzees to work together, stick to their rank within the chimpanzee troop and also means that the chimpanzee needs to be deceptive in some situations. The chimpanzee troop consists of around 30 chimpanzee members, and these chimpanzee troops contain a mixture of female chimpanzees and male chimpanzees. As with other large primate groups, the alpha male chimpanzee is the largest and strongest of the male chimps and has control over mating and looking after his chimpanzee troop.

Chimpanzees are highly territorial mammals and will fight off any unwelcome intruders into their chimpanzee territory. On a darker note, it has been known for chimpanzee troops to kill and eat those chimpanzees that trespass on their turf. Chimpanzees communicate through a series of vocal sounds, hand gestures and facial expressions. Studies have shown that the part of the brain which the chimpanzee uses to communicate, is similar to the part of the brain that human beings use for language. The chimpanzee has also shown that it is able to understand basic forms of human communication and the chimpanzee is incredible at remembering number sequences.

Chimpanzee Foot Facts

• The foot of the chimpanzee is well suited to walking as the chimpanzee has broad, hardened soles and short toes to help the chimpanzee to balance.

• The chimpanzee has four fingers or toes on each of its feet and one opposable digit that the chimpanzee uses to help the chimpanzee to hold onto branches as it climbs.

• The chimpanzee has very dexterous fingers and is able to build tools out of the surrounding forest in order to help the chimpanzee to catch food and defend off unwanted predators.

• The feet of the chimpanzee are longer than stronger than the hands of the chimpanzee as the chimpanzee spends a great deal of time walking on two feet with the opposable toe helping to balance the chimpanzee.

• The chimpanzee uses both its hands and feet in order to climb quickly up trees and to swing from branch to branch.

Chimpanzee Teeth Facts

• The chimpanzee uses its teeth to reflect its emotions, for example the chimpanzee will smile when it is relaxed whereas a frightened chimpanzee will bare its teeth to intimidate the threat.

• The teeth of the chimpanzee are very similar to the teeth of humans although the chimpanzee has larger and more pointed fang-like canines at the front of its mouth.

• The chimpanzee has 32 teeth with 16 of these teeth being on the upper jaw and 16 teeth being on the lower jaw.

• The teeth of the chimpanzee begin to grow before birth and scientists can therefore work out how old a chimpanzee is by looking at the lines in its teeth.

• The chimpanzee uses its specially shaped molar teeth to grind up fibrous matter such as certain fruits and leaves.

Bonobo

True Wild Life | Bonobo | The bonobo is a large species of primate that is only found in the Democratic Republic Of The Congo in central Africa. The bonobo is also known as the pygmy chimpanzee and the dwarf chimpanzee as the bonobo is thought to be very closely related to the chimpanzee and the two species share very similar characteristics. The bonobo is thought to have evolved from the ancestors of the common chimpanzee millions of years ago when the Congo River was formed. Today, the bonobo lives south of the Congo river and chimpanzees live north of the river meaning that they have evolved as two separate species.

Along with the chimpanzee, the bonobo is believed to be one of the closet living relatives of the human. The bonobo shares 97% of the same DNA that makes up humans and the bonobo displays very similar behaviour to humans as far as social interaction and reproduction are concerned. Along with a number of other primate species (including humans) the bonobo has opposable thumbs which allow it to grip onto food and trees.

The bonobo is smaller than the chimpanzee with adult bonobos averaging around 70cm in height and weight roughly 40kg, The bonobo has black hair covering it's body that is parted on it's head, pink lips and long legs. Generally, the body of the bonobo is not as hairy as the body of their chimp cousins. The bonobo is an omnivorous animal mainly feeding on vegetation such as fruits, leaves, flowers, bark and seeds. The bonobo also eats honey, eggs, insects and even small mammals and reptiles. The bonobo has also been known to turn to cannibalism (eats other bonobos) in captivity but it is unknown whether or not this happens in the wild.

Due to it's large size and the ability of the bonobo to escape into trees, the bonobo has few natural predators in the African forests. The main predators of the bonobo are humans who hunt the bonobo for it's meat and the odd crocodile when the bonobo gets close to the water. It is thought that other large primates may prey on the bonobo in the wild but that will often be down to disagreements over territory that turn nasty. As with many other species of large primate, the bonobo spends a great deal of time on the ground looking for food and resting with the bonobo troop. Bonobos are also known to climb into the trees if they feel threatened or are search of culinary delicacies such as honey.

Bonobos inhabit areas of the forest in troops which usually contain the alpha male bonobo, a number of females bonobos and their offspring. The bonobo troop feed together and warn off unwelcome animals along with social interacting through calls and grooming. Female bonobos breed roughly once every few of years and there has been not specific breeding season observed. After a gestation period of around 8 months, the female bonobo gives birth a single bonobo baby. The bonobo baby is nursed and cared for by the mother bonobo until it is between 3 and 6 years old. The male bonobo babies are known to be more dependent on their mothers and the female bonobo babies are more independent at a younger age. A female bonobo can expect have between 5 and 7 babies in her 40 years lifespan.

Today, the bonobo is considered to be endangered animal with only 10,000 bonobo individuals thought to be left in the wild. The bonobo populations have declined dramatically due to hunting an habitat loss. The civil unrest in the region has also made the bonobo populations more vulnerable.