New large population of chimpanzees discovered

 (Phys.org) —With great ape populations in fast decline, it is crucial to obtain a global picture of their distribution and abundance, in order to channel and direct conservation activities to where they are most needed. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands conducted hundreds of kilometers of chimpanzee surveys at multiple sites in the Central Uele region of northern Democratic Republic of the Congo and discovered a large, continuous population of Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). The population in the remote Bili-Gangu forest was surveyed in 2005 with line transects and again in 2012, and appears to have remained stable. The total area surveyed, which encompasses about 50,000 square kilometers, is home to several thousands of chimpanzees and, according to the researchers, should be considered a priority site for conservation of the eastern subspecies.

Over the past two decades the African great apes have experienced a steep population decline, up to 90 percent in some regions. This has been a result of expanding agriculture in many African countries, as well as logging and the uncontrolled extraction of natural resources. Furthermore, chimpanzees often fall victim to poachers and are killed by human diseases. "In order to monitor chimpanzee population trends and to decide where to best allocate conservation resources, it is crucial that we develop the means to accurately map the species' distribution and make precise estimates of abundance", says Hjalmar Kuehl of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. In order to determine the chimpanzee population size in an area the researchers traverse it at regular intervals along parallel line transects. From the existing number of chimpanzee sleeping nests they can then estimate the total number of chimpanzees in this area.

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Chimpanzees, Orangutans Can Swim and Dive, Biologists Prove

For many years, zoos have used water moats to confine chimpanzees, gorillas or orangutans. When apes ventured into deep water, they often drowned. Some argued that this indicated a definitive difference between humans and apes: people enjoy the water and are able to learn to swim, while apes prefer to stay on dry land.

Renato Bender from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and Nicole Bender from the University of Bern have studied a chimpanzee and an orangutan in the United States.

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Chimpanzees and orangutans remember distant past events

Both species found where a useful tool was hidden three years after performing a task only four times.

They were also able to recall a unique event two weeks later.

The team say their work, published in Current Biology, shows memory for past events is not unique to humans.

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Famous Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees, sometimes called chimps for short, are common ape species from the genus Pan, originating from the forests around the Congo River. The mighty river also creates the boundary that sets apart the two species of chimpanzee, Pan paniscus or the Bonobo, which inhabits the forests on the eastern side of the Congo, and Pan troglodytes or the Common chimpanzee, which inhabits the forests on the western side, stretching out to Central Africa.

Today, many chimps have gone out of the wild and into the limelight, becoming famous as actors and pets.

Many movies have shown chimps as one of the main actors. In 1987, ProjectX (not to be confused with the crazy party flick), showed how humans tried to teach chimpanzees how to use sign language as a means of communication. The movie also showed many unethical practices used by animal research laboratories and testing centers.

Another famous chimp would be Michel Jackson’s pet chimpanzee, Bubbles. He was known to walk around Neverland Ranch, entertaining guests and accompanying Michael around. He was also very pampered by his master. Many animal rights activists saw Bubbles as a victim of animal abuse, protesting for the chimp to be taken out of the ranch and kept in a more suitable environment.

Another famous chimp that many saw on TV worldwide would be Sam. Sam is the chimpanzee who plays Bear, the chimp in the popular TV series BJ &The Bear. Sam actually became very close to his human co-star, Greg Evigan, and would even protect him during fight scenes.

Since they are very much like us, many experiments have been done on chimps to trace down our evolutionary roots. A common chimp basically has the mind of a 5 year old child, very curious and playful. Domesticated chimps interact with humans very well, but in the wild, they can get very aggressive.

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Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees remain to be one of the most popular types of monkeys, often kept as pets and as celebrities in fairgrounds because of their highly adaptable natures. Often classified with the great apes Bonobo, Orangutan and Gorilla, an animated feature released in 2006, Curious George, told the tale of how a chimpanzee owner took care of his ape, a creature that is described to be highly intelligent and highly inquisitive.

The animated feature did well in describing chimpanzees, whose presence remains to be fascinating for people, regardless if they are kept in zoos or encountered in the wild.

Chimpanzees are often found in Africa, and can also be found in areas in Sudan, Tanzania, Angola and in Senegal. The Democratic Republic of Congo is slated to have the largest population of chimpanzees in the world, but their extinct status is also said to be in certain parts in the area.

Chimpanzees can grow as tall as up to 5 feet, with some weighing as much as 200 pounds. With long arms, the legs of a chimpanzee aren’t as long, and unlike certain primates, they do not have tails.

Chimpanzees are the most sociable of all the apes, an innate nature which has made them ideal apes when kept in captivity. In the wild, they are known to live in communities, with member numbers somewhere between 15 to 120 chimpanzees. In mixed chimpanzee communities, males rarely leave, leaving that role to females who are known to often migrate to other communities.

In the wild, a chimpanzee can live somewhere between 40 to 50 years, while chimpanzees kept in captivity are known to live between 50 to 60 years old. Since they are naturally tropical creatures, chimpanzees in the wild spend a lot of time in trees, and only come down when necessary.

Active during the day, they are incredibly sociable and adaptable with humans, but their care and upkeep isn’t exactly as “easy” as how keeping a cat or dog in the house is.

All in all, chimpanzees stand out as apes, well loved by people who are still fascinated by them time in and time out.

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