Chimpanzees (scientifically known as Pan Troglodytes or sometimes referred to as common chimpanzees) are Great Apes that are indigenous to the tropical rainforests (primary and secondary forest, swamp forest, montane forest and woodland forest) as well as savannah woodland/grassland of tropical Africa.
These primates are marked by coarse dark hair, bare faces, hand palms, fingers and toes as well as soles of feet with weight of 40-70 kilograms male chimpanzees as well as 25-50 kilograms for female chimpanzees. When it comes to height, they boast 120-150 centimeters when standing. Just like other Great Apes, the gestation period of these creatures is 8 months and have slow reproductive rate.
There are presently four recognized and confirmed sub-species of chimpanzees that include western or West African Chimpanzees, Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzees, Central Chimpanzees or Tschego chimpanzees and Eastern Chimpanzees.
Western Chimpanzees.
The Western Chimpanzees are also referred as the West African Chimpanzees or Pan troglodytes verus. These sub-species are the only critically endangered chimpanzees on IUCN Red List of Threatened species with an estimated total population of 18,000 to 65,000 individuals living in the wild. One extraordinary behavior that you will notice about these chimpanzees and not in other sub-species is their rare rock-throwing behavior whereby they tend to throw huge rocks into hollow tree stumps or on trees. Surprisingly, they make wooden spears.
The exceptional Western chimpanzees occupy areas of West African spanning from southern Senegal to the East of River Niger and significant numbers can be seen in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau and Liberia while smaller populations are in Mali, Ghana and Senegal. They are totally extinct in Togo, Gambia, Burkina Faso and Benin.
The diets of these chimpanzees differ according to sex whereby in Senegal, the bushbabies are mainly preyed on by female chimpanzees than males that mainly feed on guinea baboons and green monkeys. However, both sexes love hunting for bushbucks.
Eastern Chimpanzees
These are sometimes referred “pan troglodytes schweinfurthii and categorized as “endangered” under the IUCN Red List. These outstanding creatures weigh from 40-65 kilograms for adult males in the wild, in addition to measuring over 51 inches while female extend for only about 47 inches in height.
While they spend most of their day on ground and in trees, they spend nights on trees where nests are built each evening. They have the most successful conservation stories of the four sub-species with an estimated population of 21,000 to 55,000 individuals distributed from the secluded Ubangi River in Central African Republic, Congo River of Democratic Republic of Congo, western Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and western Tanzania although small populations can be seen in the south-eastern side of Sudan.
Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzees
Scientifically known as Pan troglodytes ellioti, the Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzees are found within the verdant rainforests on the borders of Nigeria and Cameroon and are said to be the “most threatened” and “least distributed” of all the four sub-species of chimpanzees.
With estimated population of 6000 to 9000 individuals, significant troops/or communities are found in the Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve of Nigeria, Mbam Djerem National Park in Cameroon, Gashaka-Gumti National Park in Nigeria, Ebo Wildlife Reserve in Cameroon and Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary.
The body weight of male Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzees goes up to 70 kilograms while body length is capable of extending to 1.2 meters while standing height is approximately 1.3 meters. Their female counterparts are smaller hence sexual dimorphism occurs in these beautiful chimpanzee sub-species.
Central Chimpanzees
The Central chimpanzees are the most populous of the four chimpanzee sub-species with an estimated total population of 115,000 individuals and the most significant populations found in Republic of Congo, Gabon and Cameroon. Other smaller populations are found in Equatorial Guinea, the Cabinda exclave of Angola, Central African Republic, south-eastern Nigeria as well as the coastal areas of DRC among others. They are also known as “Pan troglodytes troglodytes” and on average weigh 60 kilograms in males and 46 kilograms in females.
These chimpanzee sub-species are known for their tough and aggressive behavior, with scenarios of attacking groups of western gorillas and even killing their young ones. They are classified as “endangered” under the IUCN Red List of threatened species with an expected life span of 30-40 years.
The Central chimpanzees are primarily common in the lush Tropical moist forests, forest-savannah mosaics as well as wet savannah woodlands.
