What do chimps eat? Chimpanzees are the second most sought after primates in the East African region after mountain gorillas. They are omnivorous so they can survive on most forest foods however they majorly tend to feed more on fruits, seeds, roots, leaves, very small birds, insects, and honey among other things.
However though they have a lot in common in with the mountain gorillas, the chimps’ feeding habits are differ from those of the mountain gorillas. The chimps like to feed alone as individuals compared to groups in the case of mountain gorillas. However the chimpanzees still hunt for food together, What do chimps eat?
The chimpanzees’ foods are of course all found in the chimpanzee habitat which is the forest. Like gorillas the chimpanzees stay in a forest, they only difference is that the chimpanzees stay in the lower altitudes of rainy forests.
Chimpanzees are also close relatives of humans carrying about 90% of the human DNA. In fact scientific research has shown the chimps are more closely related to humans than the gorillas. They are more playful compared to the mountain gorillas and actually live in bigger groups than the mountain gorillas.
Other interesting facts about the chimps include;-
- Chimpanzees are actually found in 21 countries on the African continent with the highest number of individuals found in Uganda’s Kibale National Park also known as the primate capital, What do chimps eat?
- The main reason chimpanzees stay in rain forests is because they need fruits and water to survive. This is the reason you will find chimpanzees in only rain forests.
- Chimpanzees are so intelligent they have the ability to learn most skills humans have like using tools, connecting machines, sign language and many more.
- These primates live in fission-fusion groups that change in size or number of members every now and then. Also unlike have consistent groups, the chimpanzees will live in extended groups of up to 120 members and then from the bigger groups some members with have smaller groups of 15 – 20 individuals. The large groups are led by one dominant male who literally leads all the other males. The other males who are subjects to this dominant male are the leaders of the smaller groups.
- Female Chimpanzees will give birth to one child at a time and this will happen every five years.
- The young ones cling to their mothers until the age of five and at that age they are fully grown, can leave and fend for themselves. The males can mate at this point and the females can bear children, What do chimps eat?
- Chimpanzees have a really long life expectancy, they can live up to 80 years.
- Chimpanzees walk on four limbs like the mountain gorillas, but they can also walk on just two legs on rare occasions just like gorillas.
- Unlike gorillas the chimps can climb and swing on trees.
- Well previously the chimps were not as endangered as the mountain gorillas are, but due to increasing, human activities, the chimps are now listed on the IUCN list as endangered. The human activity destroys the chimps’ habitats and chimps cannot survive in any other habitat.
You can interact with these primates in their natural habitat, the rain forest on a chimpanzee trekking experience. Chimpanzee trekking experiences happen almost every day in most chimpanzee habitats. In Uganda chimpanzee trekking is majorly done in Kibaale National Park at a fee of 200 USD.
The trekking experience can be done in the mornings or the afternoon. It usually takes about 4 to 5 hours with one hour spent in the presence of the chimpanzees observing them and enjoying their company. The other hours are spent moving in and out of the forest.
