Chimpanzee

scientific name

Pan troglodytes

size/weight/height

Weight: male 90-200 lbs. • female 66-176 lbs.
Height: male 28-33" • female 30-36"

adaptations/coloration

Facial Muscles: help in non-verbal communication
Genitals: swelling pronounced in female in estrus
Intelligence: high
Thumbs: opposable • aid tool use
Vocalization: highly developed • grunts • barks • etc

behavior

Diurnal
Activity: 50% of waking hour spent feeding
Food: males hunt as an organized group; females fish for termites;eat meat rarely
Group: family • generally females • male leaves at adolescence • "fusion-fission" - group together & split apart based on food availability
Prey:monkeys and bush pigs
Tools: use in termite fishing

reproduction/lifespan

Lifespan: wild 30-40 yrs. • captivity 40-50 yrs.
Breeding Season: year-round
Gestation: 8 mo.
Birth: twins rare
Young: weaned 4-5 yrs. • may remain with mom 10+ yrs. (often permanently if female)
Birth Interval: 3+ yrs.

diet

Wild: flowers, fruit, galls, insects, leaves, seeds, seeds & meat (baboons, birds, bush pigs, monkeys, rodents)
Zoo: fruits, greens monkey chow & vegetables

habitat/range

humid forest • deciduous woodland • mixed savanna • West & Central Africa

status

U.S. Endangered • CITES App I • due to habitat loss •SSP • studbook participant • Great Ape TAG

enrichment

raisins, chopped food, etc scattered in straw • magazines • artificial termite mounds on island filled with barbecue sauce, mustard, lemon pie filling, etc

oregon zoo exhibit

Primates

help stop the bushmeat crisis

find out how you can help protect chimpanzees from the bushmeat crisis.

Bushmeat Crisis

 

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