The eastern chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii'') is a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...

of the

common chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative t ...

. It is native to the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of th ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gr ...

, and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Taxonomy

Though it is formally classified as ''P. t. schweinfurthii'',

Colin Groves Colin Peter Groves (24 June 1942 – 30 November 2017) was a British-Australian biologist and anthropologist. Groves was Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Education Born in Englan ...

of the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

argues that there is enough variation between the northern and southern populations of this population of chimpanzees to be split into two subspecies instead of one; the northern population as ''P. t. schweinfurthii'' and the southern population as ''P. t. marungensis''.

Threats and conservation

The 2007

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...

classified them as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

. Although the common chimpanzee is the most abundant and widespread of the non-human

great ape The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the ...

s, recent declines in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...

are expected to continue due to hunting and loss of habitat. Because chimpanzees and humans are physiologically very similar, chimpanzees succumb to many diseases that afflict humans. 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 Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best kn ...

at Gombe Stream National Park.

Physical description

Adult chimpanzees in the wild weigh between . Males can measure up to and females up to in height. The chimpanzee's body is covered with coarse black 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. Like most chimpanzee populations, the eastern chimpanzees have amber to brown irises and dark sclerae.

Habitat

The chimpanzee spends time both in trees and on the ground, but usually sleeps in a tree, where it builds a nest for the night. They once inhabited most of this region, but their habitat has been dramatically reduced in recent years.

Behaviour and ecology

Chimpanzees live in communities of typically 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 Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

and terrestrial and rests in trees at night, but spends the day on the ground. Chimpanzees walk using the soles of their feet and their knuckles, and they can walk upright for short distances. They are 'knuckle walkers'. When confronted by a predator, chimpanzees will react with loud screams and use any object they can get against the threat. The

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

is the chimpanzee's main natural predator, but they have also fallen prey to

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...

Diet

Chimpanzees are

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

and eat

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

, leaves, bark, fungi,

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

s such as

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blat ...

s, ants and small prey such as birds and monkeys. They often use a twig as a tool to reach termites or ants in

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

s 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

cubs, this primarily seems to be a protective effort, since the leopard is the main natural

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill t ...

of the common chimpanzee. Isolated cases of cannibalism have also been documented.

References

External links

DiscoverChimpanzees.org

Chimpanzee Genome resources

Primate Info Net ''Pan troglodytes'' Factsheets

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Species Profile

''New Scientist'' 19 May 2003 - Chimps are human, gene study implies

Video clips and news from the BBC (BBC Wildlife Finder)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3296642 Chimpanzees Taxa named by Enrico Hillyer Giglioli Mammals of Sudan Mammals of Tanzania Mammals of Uganda Mammals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mammals of the Central African Republic Mammals of Burundi Mammals of Rwanda