Chimpanzee

Information

Species Name (Scientific): Pan troglodytes

IUCN Category: Endangered

Habitat Type: Forest | Savanna

Geographic Range: Sub-Saharan Africa

Chimpanzees are intelligent, highly social primates native to Africa, and are closely related to humans, sharing 98- 99% of our DNA.

Chimpanzees are critical for their ecosystems and hold significant cultural and scientific value, making their conservation a global priority. They are also very important as seed dispersers, as a result of their fruit-eating habits, aiding forest regeneration. In the wider food chain they, as omnivores, are both predators (of insects/small animals) and prey (to leopards and other predators).

Primary threats: Humans – habitat loss (logging, mining, farming, development), poaching and bushmeat, illegal pet trade and disease, coupled with low population densities and slow reproductive rates. All 4 Chimpanzee subspecies face similar threats, but to varying degrees in different regions.