Until the late 1960s, chimpanzees were known to be entirely vegetarian. Chimpanzees mostly eat fruits, leaves, figs, blossoms, seed and berries as part of their routine vegetarian diet. Although they are primarily vegetarian, chimps also eat insects like ants, meat and eggs. Chimpanzee Diet.Ĭhimpanzees are omnivores and can eat both plant and animal products. The habitat of chimpanzees is determined by presence of food and a friendly environment that is safe from human encroachment. Other parks with chimpanzees are Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls. The most popular national park for seeing chimps in Uganda is Kibale National Park. The national parks, and the chimpanzee sanctuary of Ngamba Island. In Uganda, Chimpanzees have two major habitats. With growing human populations in the areas near these forests and woodlands, the habitat of chimpanzees has significantly reduced and put their lives in danger. Some chimpanzee populations have adapted to arid areas like in Senegal and Tanzania infested by savannas, swamp forests and open forests. Habitat.Ĭhimpanzees prefer to live in forests, savanna woodlands and lowland forests.Ĭonsidering their diet, this is the perfect natural habitat for shelter and food. The male chimps averagely weigh from 34 to 70 kgs while the females weigh between 26 and 50 kgs.Ĭhimpanzees have brown or black hair covering the entire body apart from the knuckles (a result of pressing on the ground as it walks), some chest areas, and face (mouth and ears) – thus exposing their huge ears and a small nose.

They walk on the soles of their feet and knuckles of their long hands however, they can manage to walk standing upright on their legs for the briefest of times. Their arms are longer than the legs which come in handy for swinging from one tree branch to another.

PhysicalĬhimpanzees stand about 1 to 1.7 meters (5 feet 7 inches) tall. This is due to the lack of tails and shorter spine – that is built for standing and sitting in upright positions much like us humans do. The scientific name of Chimpanzee is ‘ Pan troglodytes’ classified under the Hominidae family. These great apes are closely related to humans and it is scientifically said that humans and the four great apes descended from a single species, and evolved to meet their survival needs. These include the Gorillas, Bonobo (dwarf or pygmy chimpanzee), Orangutans (translation – man of the forest) and Chimpanzees. ClassificationĬhimpanzees are categorized under the four great apes. Let us now look at those interesting facts that will intrigue you about chimpanzees. Currently, Chimpanzee tracking (seeing chimpanzees in their natural habitat) is among the top things to do for anyone doing an African Safari in Uganda. It is on that background that sustainable tourism activities related to chimpanzees have sprung up and become very popular with all sorts of travellers. The work of researchers such as Jane Goodall has revealed that chimpanzees are so much more. A lot of research and monitoring over the past several decades has revealed that chimps are much more than DNA cousins. This is backed by the 98.8% DNA match between humans and chimpanzees – which is the closest known match.įortunately, that is not all there is to chimpanzees. Everyone knows that the chimpanzees are the closest animals to being human.

Chimpanzee facts on them habitat