20 Interesting Chimpanzee Facts & Animal Characteristics

Chimpanzees are said to have had a common ancestor with humans that lived four to eight million years ago. Chimpanzees share 98% of their DNA with humans, making them close relatives, along with gorillas and bonobos. Chimpanzees live in groups of 15-150 individuals, composed of different families made up of 3-6 members. There are about 100,000-300,000 chimpanzees left in the world.

In this article we talk about interesting chimpanzee facts & animal characteristics.

Chimpanzee Fun Facts

1. Chimpanzees are primarily omnivorous animals that feed on vegetation but can supplement their diet with eggs, termites, insects, ants, and even meat sometimes.
2. Chimpanzees are known for their use of tools; they can shape sticks and use them for collecting termites, insects, and grubs, they can also use stones to break nuts, and use leaves as sponges to soak up drinking water.
3. Female chimpanzees always reach sexual maturity before the males, at the age of 13 years old, while males mature at the age of 16 years old.
4. The gestation period for a female chimpanzee is 8 months, and they can give birth at any time of the year; the infants are weaned by their mothers and depend on breast milk until the age of about 3-4 years. Female chimpanzees give birth once every 5-6 years.
5. During grooming sessions, chimpanzees help clean each other by removing dead skin, parasites, and more. If a chimpanzee wants to be groomed by another, they will communicate by smacking their lips.
6. Chimpanzees make nests where they spend the night, starting at around 7 pm in the evening before dark.
7. Chimpanzees have a set of 32 teeth.
8. Chimpanzees can live up to 50 years of age; they have blood groups of A and O only.
9. Chimpanzees’ greatest predators are humans who hunt them for bush meat, and they are also endangered due to habitat loss as humans continuously encroach on their natural habitats.
10. The strength of adult chimpanzees is seven times that of a human being.
11. Chimpanzees can use sign language to convey a message.
12. The average lifespan of a chimpanzee is 40 years, but some can survive up to 60 years of age in captivity.
13. In case of any disagreement between chimps, this can be patched up during the grooming session.
14. Chimpanzees primarily walk on all fours, but they can also stand up and walk upright occasionally.
15. Chimpanzees can contract diseases from humans like Malaria, Ebola, and the common cold.
16. The mating ritual between chimpanzees takes only about 10-15 seconds; they can also be doing something else like eating while mating.
17. Male chimpanzees don’t always leave the communities in which they were born, but females always move from their main communities when they grow up.
18. Chimpanzees use many ways to communicate, including body postures, vocalizations, gestures, facial expressions, panting, drumming on tree buttresses, grunting, flicking, and more.
19. Chimpanzees have much larger and more developed brains than monkeys.
20. Chimpanzees also express their emotions; they can tickle and laugh with each other, and if a chimpanzee is nervous or upset, you can see their hair standing on end, and there will be screaming and loud hoots.