Chimpanzee

(Pan troglodytes)

Live: Guinea and Ghana in West Africa, across to Tanzania in the east

Habitat: Dry woodland savannah, grassland and tropical rainforest

Diet: Fruit, leaves, flowers, seeds, animal prey including ants, termites and other primates

Gestation: 8 months, usually a single offspring is born

Longevity: 40-45 years

Status: Endangered

General: Chimpanzees are one of the great apes and are one of our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom. They are very intelligent primates and have complex social behaviour. Males are larger than the female and also have larger canine teeth. They are mainly black in colour and, like all apes, do not have a tail. Like humans, all chimps have different facial features, and this can be a way of identifying individuals.

Chimpanzees live in groups, which can vary in size from 15-100. The group usually breaks up into smaller parties of 3-6 individuals, which go off to feed on their own. The male chimpanzees always stay in the group they were born into, whereas the females will move onto another group.

Tool use in chimpanzees is common - they learn how to do this from their mothers. Common tools include sticks to fish out termites from their nests, and leaves to soak up water from isolated pools.