Chimps live in complex social communities varying from 20 to 100 members. They are opportunistic omnivores, eating over 300 items including fruit, vegetation, eggs, insects and mammals up to the size of a bush pig. They use a variety of tools to obtain these foods, such as stone ‘hammers’ to crack nuts, and appear to use certain plants medicinally to expel diseases and endoparasites. Standing at around 1-1.2m tall, they can swing between branches but use knuckle walking to move any significant distances.
Fun Fact – Chimpanzee behaviour is highly complex – they make trades, cooperate, manipulate or deceive each other and show self-recognition and grief.
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Ecology
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Threats
Illegal poaching is the key threat to chimps – they are shot for their meat, exported for the exotic pet trade and are poisoned in retaliation for crop damage. They also frequently become caught in non-specific snares. Their slow reproductive rate makes population recovery slower. Their habitat is also becoming more accessible to humans due to logging roads – this not only exacerbates the poaching risk, it also increases the rate of disease transmission. Due to our genetic similarity, human diseases passed on by this increasingly close contact often afflict chimps.
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Conservation
Chimpanzees are protected by national and international law, appear on Appendix I of CITES and occur in multiple national parks across Africa. However, enforcement of these protection laws is not strict enough to prevent poaching. Large captive populations exist, yet much more needs to be done to protect them in situ, from habitat protection to stricter law enforcement. The expanding industry of ecotourism presents a valuable opportunity to raise awareness for these highly intelligent primates.
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Preserved January 2024
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Sumatran laughing thrush
Total Population: 2,500 - 10,000 in the wild
Orange-headed thrush
Total Population: Unknown
Mandanao bleeding-heart dove
Total Population: Less than 2,500 in the wild
Okapi
Total Population: Less than 25,000 in the wild
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Total Population: Around 13,000 in the wild
Red river hog
Total Population: Unknown
African Lion
Total Population: 20,000 - 25,000 in the wild
Sloth bear
Total Population: Less than 20,000 in the wild
Black-naped fruit dove
Total Population: Unknown
Hyacinth macaw
Total Population: Around 6,500 in the wild
African penguin
Total Population: Less than 40,000 in the wild
Inca Tern
Total Population: Around 150,000 in the wild
Owston’s palm civet
Total Population: Unknown
Brandt’s vole
Total Population: Unknown
Macaroni Penguin
Total Population: Around 12 million
Common Eland
Total Population: 90,000 to 110,000 in the wild
Mandarin duck
Total Population: Around 65,000 in the wild
Parma Wallaby
Total Population: 1,000 - 10,000 in the wild