Chimpanzees – Man’s Closest Living Relative

Chimpanzees are among man’s closest relatives, and they share approximately 98% of their DNA genes with people. these can best be done during our Rwanda Chimpanzee Tracking Tours. They possess thick bodies and have long arms which stretch past their knees, their legs are short, and they have no tails and possess opposable thumbs like humans. Most of the chimpanzee bodies are covered with thick long dark hair; however the toes, face, fingers and ears are bare.

 Where do chimpanzees live?

Chimpanzees mainly live in forested areas, and on the African continent, Chimpanzees can be seen in several countries. Below we have highlighted them. Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda, Kibale National Park and Budongo forest in Uganda and Gombe National Park in Tanzania

Behavior of Chimpanzees

• Generally, chimpanzees are very noisy, inquisitive, clever as well as social.
• Chimpanzees stay in loose communities between 10 to over 100 chimpanzees. Chimpanzees share a habitat range which they safeguard from any intruders and at times look for food as a group.
• Chimpanzees love hanging out together.
• Chimpanzees love touching each other so much and occasionally may kiss once they meet.
• They love hands and do groom one another.
• A fully grown chimpanzee usually has a distinct partner with whom it spends most of its time.
• Female chimpanzees offer their young ones a lot of attention and assist one another with babysitting tasks.
• Older chimpanzees in the chimp group are often very patient with the energetic youngsters

Diet of Chimpanzees

• Chimpanzees aren’t discriminating eaters.
• Once they leave their nests for the night up in the trees, they hungrily eat fruits, which are the major component of their diet, together with leaves, plant buds as well as flowers.
• After some time, their feeding gets a bit selective, as they mainly choose the very ripe fruits.
• They often pick fruits using their hands, however they eat seeds plus berries directly off the plant stem using their lips.
• Their diet comprises of about 80 various plants; and they spend 6 – 8 hours daily searching for food.
• At times, chimpanzees supplement their diet with meat, from small animals like goat and young antelopes. They also commonly prey on young blue monkeys, baboons and colobus monkeys.
• chimpanzees can also use tools which they easily pick with the aid of their opposable thumbs

Chimpanzee Tracking Rwanda | AA Safaris & Tours Ltd