There are approximately 250 animals in zoos and another 1,200 in research facilities (Goodall 2001).Ĭhimpanzees have been studied at 41 sites, but there are a few long-term study sites and notable scientists that have been sources of invaluable discoveries about chimpanzee biology, society, and culture. Researchers roughly estimate the wild population of chimpanzees to be between 100,000 and 200,000 (Nishida et al. Odzala National Park, Congo boasts the highest population density of chimpanzees in Central Africa with 2.2 individuals per km² (1.37 per mi²) while Gabon has the largest population (Bermejo 1999 Butynski 2001). This represents a total area of about 2.5 million km² (965,255 mi²) though the majority (about 77%) of the total estimated population can be found in only two countries, Gabon and Congo (Cowlishaw & Dunbar 2000). Their range spans 22 countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda (Butynski 2001 Nishida et al. RANGEĬhimpanzees are found across a west-east belt in equatorial Africa.

The average lifespan of chimpanzees is 40 to 45 years, though it is considerably longer for captive chimpanzees (Macdonald 2001). All chimpanzees build sleeping nests in trees at night (Rowe 1996). Chimpanzees are both terrestrial and arboreal, with the amount of time spent on the ground varying between study sites and between sexes (Doran 1996). Locomotion patterns include quadrupedal knuckle walking and occasional bipedalism. They have prominent ears and both males and females have white beards. Pan troglodytesĬhimpanzees are all black but are born with pale faces and a white tail tuft, both of which darken with age. Males and females have an average height of 816 mm (2.68 ft) (Rowe 1996). They have a more robust build than bonobos ( Pan paniscus) and are slightly sexually dimorphic with males, on average, weighing 40 to 60 kg (88.2 to 132 lb) and females, on average, weighing 32 to 47 kg (70.5 to 104 lb) (Rowe 1996). MORPHOLOGYĬhimpanzees exhibit very little morphological differences between subspecies. For example, by categorizing chimpanzees as Homo, it might be considered unethical to keep them in zoos or use them in research. The implications of changing the taxonomical categorization could have enormous impacts on how chimpanzees are perceived and the rights extended to them. Some argue that chimpanzees should be categorized in the same genus as humans, Homo, based on the fact that chimpanzees and humans diverged only 4 to 6 million years ago (Groves 2001).

Chimpanzee face profile