The eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) is a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of the common chimpanzee

Common Chimpanzee

The common chimpanzee , also known as the robust chimpanzee, is a great ape. Colloquially, the common chimpanzee is often called the chimpanzee , though technically this term refers to both species in the genus Pan: the common chimpanzee and the closely related bonobo, formerly called the pygmy...

. It occurs in the Central African Republic

Central African Republic

The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...

, the Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

, the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

, Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

, Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

, Burundi

Burundi

Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

, and Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

.

The 2007 IUCN Red List

IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

 classified them as Endangered. Although the common chimpanzee is the most abundant and widespread of the non-human great apes, recent declines in East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

 are expected to continue due to hunting and loss of habitat. Because chimpanzees and humans are so physiologically similar, chimpanzees succumb to many diseases that afflict humans. If not properly managed, research and tourism also presents a risk of disease transmission between humans and chimpanzees.

Characteristics

Adult chimpanzees in the wild weigh between 40 and 65 kilograms (88 and 143 pounds). Males can measure up to 160 centimetres (63 inches) and females up to 130 centimetres (51 inches) in height. Although they are lighter than humans, they have a pull five to six times stronger. This is because the muscles of the common chimpanzee and other primates are far more effective than those of humans. The chimpanzees body is covered with coarse dark brown hair, except for the face, fingers, toes, palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Both of its thumbs and its big toes are opposable, allowing a precision grip.

Diet

Like humans, chimpanzees are omnivorous, meaning their diet consists of plants and animals. Some of the foods a chimpanzee will eat include seed

Seed

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s, fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

s, leaves, bark, insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s such as termite

Termite

Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...

s and small prey. Chimpanzees will often use a twig as a tool to help them reach termites or ant

Ant

Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...

s in nest

Nest

A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...

s and have been seen using sticks to hunt other small mammals. There are also instances of organized hunting. In some cases, such as the killing of leopard

Leopard

The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...

 cubs, this primarily seems to be a protective effort, since the leopard is the main natural predator of the common chimpanzee. However, the common chimpanzee sometimes bands together and hunts western red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus badius) for meat. Isolated cases of cannibalism have also been documented.

Habitat

The chimpanzee will spend time both in trees and on the ground, but will usually sleep in a tree where it will build a nest for the night. They once inhabited most of this region, but their habitat has been dramatically reduced in recent years.

Behavior

Chimpanzees live in communities that typically range from 20 to more than 150 members, but spend most of their time traveling in small parties of just a few individuals. Common chimpanzees are both arboreal and terrestrial, spending equal amounts of time in the trees and on the ground.

Chimpanzees walk using the soles of their feet and resting on their knuckles, but they can walk upright for short distances. Common chimpanzees are 'knuckle walkers', like gorillas, in contrast to the quadrupedal locomotion (a form of land animal locomotion using four legs) of orangutans and bonobos known as 'palm walkers' who use the outside edge of their palms.

When confronted by a predator, chimpanzees will react with loud screams and use any object they can get against the threat. The leopard is the chimpanzee's main natural predator, but they have also fallen prey to lions.