Description

An adult male chimpanzee has a head and body length of 30 to 36 inches and weighs up to 200 pounds. Females are slightly smaller, being 28 to 38 inches long and weighing up to 180 pounds. Overall height ranges from 3 to 5.5 feet, and the arm spread is 50% greater than the height.

Most of the body is covered with long, coarse black or brown hair, but the face, ears, fingers and toes are bare. As with humans, baldness is quite common among mature chimpanzees, except that females tend to experience it worse than males.

Chimpanzees have hands that can grip firmly, thanks to an opposable thumb.

Distribution and Habitat

Chimpanzees live in the tropical rain forests of western and central equatorial Africa. They are at home in the trees, but often come down to the ground to search for food.

Social Habits

Chimpanzees live in groups numbering from 15 to 140 individuals. The size of a group will increase as chimpanzees gather at a source of plentiful food, and will decrease as that source depletes, and individuals move between groups frequently. The only constant unit of social life is a mother with her young. She may have two or three of different ages with her at any time because they stay with her for several years.

Within a party, the males are arranged in a social order, based primarily on age.

<img src="graphics/chimpanzee2.gif" alt="the gamut of chimpanzee emotions" align="r