I’m a Chimpanzee

I’m a Chimpanzee 

I’m related to the ape family 

Sometimes I’m confused with the monkey 

If you compare us you’ll see that monkeys have tails and chimpanzees don’t.

Chimpanzee love to climb trees and can swing from the branches if they’re sturdy enough.

They have long arms and short legs so they prefer the trees to the ground but if they have to they will navigate on the ground.

Chimpanzees are mainly vegetarian and prefer fruits, leaves, seeds, berries, blossoms and vegetables but occasionally will eat small birds and insects.

Chimpanzees are very social animals and gather in small circles in their development within their habitat and as young chimps they are dependent on their mother through age 4 when they start to grow up eventually going out on their own becoming more independent.

Chimpanzees nest in the trees where they sleep for approximately 10 hours a day and during the day they’re out foraging for food, caring for their young while the young are at play swinging in the trees once they’re mature enough to do so.

Chimpanzees grow to a height of between 3 to 6 feet, weighing between 70 and 130 pounds. 

They’re very quick and agile and amazing acrobats when they are swinging in the trees.

Chimpanzees live in Africa in tropical rainforests, savannas, swamp forests and grasslands.

There are chimpanzees living in sanctuaries outside of their natural habitat outside of Africa where they’re free to roam and live and have been featured in zoos. 

It’s now discouraged to use chimpanzees in research laboratories and many have been released to sanctuaries where they can experience life as they’re meant to surrounded by trees, plenty of land space, a plentiful supply of natural resources including fruits and natural waterways.

Chimpanzees need water in their diet and usually obtain it in the vegetation they eat especially at zoos but do use leaves to form a cup like holder that they scoop the water up with several times until they satisfy their thirst.

Chimpanzees are very close in biology to humans so in the past they were studied research laboratories but that practice has been halted in the United States as mandated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2015.

Male chimpanzees seek to mate around 16 years old and females at 13 years old. 

Chimpanzees live in extended families and  a family structure is crucial in their development and survival. 

Chimpanzees have a life expectancy of living through their mid 30s in the wild and in captivity they can live to age 60 where they are cared for in zoos and sanctuaries.

Chimpanzees have been roaming the earth for nearly a million years with extinction of earlier ancestors can be traced back several million years ago.

There is one species of chimpanzee with 4 subspecies all central to regions of Africa.

Children appreciate chimpanzees and are happy to see them climbing trees and swinging from branches especially young chimpanzees who are very active and fun to watch. 

Zoos and wildlife sanctuaries are wonderful places to visit our chimpanzee friends.

I am close to my mom and feel very protected in her embrace and I love to play with my friends in the trees.

I’m a chimpanzee.