Chimpanzees are a species of apes found in Africa, spread across the central and western parts of the continent. They live in social groups of about 20 to 150 individuals, dominated by an alpha male who protects the group with the help of females.
Chimpanzees live in communities but usually separate during the daytime when feeding. Small groups can consist of females only with their infants, males on a hunt, or mixed males and females. However, in the evening before dark, the whole community comes together in one area where they build nests in tree tops to sleep.
Though chimpanzees share about 98% of their DNA with humans, they are wild and aggressive animals and can demonstrate their strength in attacks, even though the full extent of their strength cannot be accurately estimated. Male chimpanzees are larger than female chimpanzees. Males can weigh from 35-70 kilograms, while females can weigh from 20-50 kilograms. The average height for male chimpanzees is 0.9 to 1.2 meters, and for females, it is 0.66-1 meter.
The climbing lifestyle of chimpanzees emphasizes the need for greater strength. They are four to five times stronger than humans due to a higher content of fast-twitch muscle fibers, which help them adapt to climbing and swinging. A chimp can generate more power in the same range of motion as humans.
Chimpanzees are also strong because sometimes they use more muscle strength than necessary, as they have less control over their muscles. According to a study in 2006 on Bonobo chimpanzees, chimpanzees can jump one-third higher than top-level human athletes.
Chimpanzees have very sharp and strong canine teeth that they use for attacking and scaring predators. Bites from chimpanzee canines can lead to deep injuries that may even cause death. Chimpanzees can engage in brutal wars; the longest recorded war of chimpanzees took 4 hours.
In conclusion, the strength of chimpanzees cannot be accurately measured, but one thing is certain: chimpanzees are very strong animals. There are many instances where chimpanzees have attacked and brutally injured or killed humans in zoos, or even killed them instantly.
This is enough evidence to show that chimpanzees are strong.
In Uganda, there are common cases where chimpanzees have grabbed human babies, mistaking them for their prey, such as the red colobus monkey.
