Eastern chimpanzee

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Eastern chimpanzee[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Genus: Pan
Species: P. troglodytes
Subspecies: P. t. schweinfurthii
Trinomial name
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii
(Giglioli, 1872)

The eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) is a subspecies of the common chimpanzee. It occurs in the Central African Republic, the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania.[3]

The 2007 IUCN Red List classified them as Endangered.[2] Although the common chimpanzee is the most abundant and widespread of the non-human great apes, recent declines in East Africa are expected to continue due to hunting and loss of habitat. Because chimpanzees and humans are so physiologically similar, chimpanzees succumb to many diseases that afflict humans.[4] If not properly managed, research and tourism also presents a risk of disease transmission between humans and chimpanzees.


This subspecies has been extensively studied by Dr. Jane Goodall at Gombe National Park.[4]

Physical description[edit]

Adult chimpanzees in the wild weigh between 40 and 65 kilograms (88 and 143 pounds). Males can measure up to 160 centimetres (63 inches) and females up to 130 centimetres (51 inches) in height. Although they are lighter than humans, they have a pull five to six times stronger. This is because the muscles of the common chimpanzee and other primates are far more effective than those of humans. The chimpanzees body is covered with coarse dark brown hair, except for the face, fingers, toes, palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Both of its thumbs and its big toes are opposable, allowing a precision grip.


The chimpanzee will spend time both in trees and on the ground, but will usually sleep in a[clarification needed] tree where it will build a nest for the night. They once inhabited most of this region, but their habitat has been dramatically reduced in recent years.


A group of chimps grooming
A nest on a tree where chimps sleep overnight

Chimpanzees live in communities that typically range from 20 to more than 150 members, but spend most of their time traveling in small parties of just a few individuals. The eastern chimpanzee is both arboreal and terrestrial and spend its nights in the trees, while most of its daytime hours are spent on the ground.[6]

Chimpanzees walk using the soles of their feet and their knuckles, and they can walk upright for short distances. Common chimpanzees are 'knuckle walkers', like gorillas,[6] in contrast to the quadrupedal locomotion (a form of land animal locomotion using four legs) of orangutans and bonobos known as 'palm walkers' who use the outside edge of their palms.

When confronted by a predator, chimpanzees will react with loud screams and use any object they can get against the threat. The leopard is the chimpanzee's main natural predator, but they have also fallen prey to lions.[7]


Male chimpanzee with its prey, a bushbuck

Like humans, chimpanzees are omnivorous, meaning their diet consists of plants and animals. Some of the foods a chimpanzee will eat include seeds, fruits, leaves, bark, insects such as termites and small prey. Chimpanzees will often use a twig as a tool to help them reach termites or ants in nests and have been seen using sticks to hunt other small mammals. There are also instances of organized hunting. In some cases, such as the killing of leopard cubs, this primarily seems to be a protective effort, since the leopard is the main natural predator of the common chimpanzee. However, the common chimpanzee sometimes bands together and hunts western red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus badius) for meat. Isolated cases of cannibalism have also been documented.

See also[edit]



  2. ^ a b Wilson, M.L., Balmforth, Z., Cox, D., Davenport, T., Hart, J., Hicks, C., Hunt, K.D., Kamenya, S., Mitani, J.C., Moore, J., Nakamura, M, Nixon, S., Plumptre, A.J. & Reynolds, V. (2008). Pan troglodytes ssp. schweinfurthii. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  4. ^ a b Goodall, J. (1996). McGrew, W.C., Marchant, L. F., & Nishida, T. eds, ed. Great Ape Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. xix. ISBN 0-521-55536-1. 
  5. ^ Groves, CP (2005). "Geographic variation within eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes cf. schweinfurthii Giglioli, 1872)". Australasian Primatology. 
  6. ^ a b Janssen, Ellen and Paul (2006). "Chimpanzee Fact File". African Wildlife Foundation. Retrieved 23 September 2012. 
  7. ^ Boesch, Christophe (1991). "The Effects of Leopard Predation on Grouping Patterns in Forest Chimpanzees". Behaviour. 1991 117: 221–242. 

External links[edit]