About Chimpanzees
Habitat
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are found in 21 African countries, from the west coast of the continent to as far east as western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania.
Chimps live in the greatest concentrations in the rainforests of what used to be the equatorial forest belt. Unfortunately, the rapid deforestation in Africa has left only fragmented patches of forest where a continuous habitat once stretched. Fortunately, chimpanzees are able to move out into quite arid areas, such as southwest Tanzania and Senegal. They are found in secondary re-forested areas (secondary forest), open woodlands, bamboo forests, swamp forests, and even open savannah that has bands of riverine forest and forest savannah mosaic. In these last areas chimps seldom venture far into the savannah except to move from one forest patch to the next.
Gombe National Park, where the Jane Goodall Institute continues its ongoing study of chimpanzees and other primates, is a mixture of woodland, some open areas on ridges and peaks and thick riverine forest in the many valleys.
Chimpanzees need a water supply and a variety of fruits. They are omnivores and eat not only fruits, nuts, seeds, blossoms, and leaves but many kinds of insects and occasionally, the meat of medium-sized mammals. Chimpanzees, like humans, have such diverse tastes that they are able to live in a wide variety of habitats, unlike gorillas and orang-utans which have more specialised diets in the wild.
