Chimpanzee

More Information

Physical Description

Chimpanzees range in color from black to gray, and each individual’s face features a unique blend of colors, hairlines, and facial hair. These omnivores feed primarily on fruits, insects, and small animals, including other primates. They live in large “fission-fusion” societies, frequently splintering into smaller groups and re-gathering. Males establish a hierarchy that influences breeding, but mating is fluid between a variety of partners. Offspring are dependent on their troop for up to six years. Female chimpanzees sometimes migrate into new groups during adolescence while males remain with their birth group.

Interesting Fact 1

In the wild, chimpanzees use tools to gather food, such as manipulating thin sticks to “fish” termites from their mounds.

Interesting Fact 2

Lincoln Park Zoo scientists study chimpanzees through behavior and health monitoring, voluntary tool-use studies, and computer touchscreen sessions.

Interesting Fact 3

Their habitat at Regenstein Center for African Apes includes an artificial termite mound, which allows zoo scientists to observe and study their tool-use behavior at the zoo.