Chimpanzee
Genetically Human's Closest Relatives
Classification
Bio
Chimps are omnivores, meaning they generally eat fruits and plants. However they also consume insects, eggs, and meats, including carrion. Some of the insects they consume include ants and termites. Chimps are one of the few animals that use tools in their every day lives. They use sticks that they shaped to get insects from their nests and dig grub out of logs. They also use stones to smash open tasty nuts and use leaves as sponges to soak up drinking water. When working together, Chimps can even kill monkeys birds, and even small antelopes. Chimps normally move around on all fours (hands and feet), however they can also stand and walk upright just like humans. They are also great climbers and can move quite efficiently in trees, by swinging from branch to branch. Chimps actually do most of their eating in trees, and also tend to sleep in them at night, making themselves a nest of leaves. Trees also offer chimps protection from predators, because of their great climbing abilities, they are able to quickly flee from any enemy trying to harm them.
Chimps live in groups, or communities, of sizes ranging from 15 to 120 chimps depending of the habitat and amount of food. Chimps are highly territorial and do not tolerate outsiders, often killing an individual that is from another group. The dominant males of groups dont necessarily have to be the strongest but have to be able to rally together the most supporters
Endangered Status
Chimpanzees today are classified as endangered in their natural habitats and soon face the threat of being extinct. It is estimated that their could be as few as 100,000 chimps left in Africa, with the population having declined rapidly in the last 30 years. As forest continue to be destroyed by humans, chimps get pushed into smaller and more isolated regions of their once vast natural area which is leading to even more population decline. As of right now, nothing is really being done to help the chimpanzees, so as every day goes by, more and more chimpanzees are loosing their homes and lives, causing the population to continue shrinking day by day.