Among all great apes, chimpanzees are often distinguished by scientists into a separate category, since they are closer in their mental development to humans than any other living beings on Earth. You should not think that they are just animals that sometimes get used to imitate people, no – their intelligence is really very high, and they show excellent learning abilities. In addition, chimpanzees have a whole range of emotions that we sometimes attribute only to ourselves.
Interesting facts about chimpanzee
- The largest population of chimpanzees in the world lives in the African country of Tanzania.
- Human DNA matches the DNA of these primates by 99%.
- Like humans, chimpanzees can become addicted to alcohol and tobacco.
- It is well known that chimpanzees can live for more than 50 years.
- Chimpanzees, seeing their reflection in the mirror, unmistakably determine what it is. They are also able to recognize themselves in photographs, unlike most other animals. Horses, for example, have a similar ability (interesting facts about horses).
- Chimpanzees often have a strong desire to yawn if they see a human or other monkey yawn. Actually, this behavior is peculiar only to us and these primates.
- Being highly developed creatures, they learned to use primitive tools, such as stones and pointed sticks.
- Among these monkeys, there are sometimes cases of cannibalism.
- An adult male chimpanzee weighs up to 70-80 kg. Females are usually not so large.
- The world population of chimpanzees has been steadily declining year by year. The reason for this is a person who is pushing them out of their usual habitat.
- Chimpanzees eat not only fruits and foliage, but also meat, as well as insects. Unlike, for example, gorillas, which are strict vegetarians (interesting facts about gorillas).
- These primates mature at about 4 years of age.
- They do not like a solitary lifestyle. To make it easier for themselves to survive, chimpanzees usually live in groups.
- Baby chimpanzees, like human children, play games, with males and females having different games.
- Compared to other apes, chimpanzees are more likely to show cruelty to prove to everyone their superiority and take a dominant position in the group. Doesn’t look like a human at all, does it?
- Sometimes, groups of chimpanzees fight among themselves, and these protracted conflicts with periodic clashes can last for years.
- An adult male chimpanzee is on average 20-30% stronger of the average adult male.
- In the history of the world space program, 32 chimpanzees were launched into space, and all of them returned safely to Earth (interesting facts about space).
- Like people, more specifically, male, male chimpanzees sometimes go bald with age.
- If desired, these primates can be taught the sign language used by the deaf and dumb. As practice shows, chimpanzees are quite capable of mastering them, and have a vocabulary of hundreds of words.