Pro: Eastern Chimpanzee
BECOMING A PRIMATE PRO... SORT OF
10 OF THE MOST WELL-KNOWN PRIMATE SPECIES
#1 EASTERN CHIMPANZEE
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii
Common names are not officially defined. They are based on everyday conversational language and may differ by country, region, profession, community, or other factors. As a result, it is not unusual for a species to have more than one common name.
Scientific names are in Latin and they are written in italics. They are standardized and for everyone, no matter what language you may speak. They are bound by a formal naming system, called binominal nomenclature, that has strict rules. Scientific names prevent misidentification. Those names only change if a species, or its genus, is officially redesignated by experts.
Great Ape
Eastern chimpanzees are native to the East African countries of Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda.
- Eastern chimpanzees are the smallest of the common chimpanzee subspecies
- They are distinguished by more rounded heads, more subtle brow ridges, and shorter limbs than the other chimpanzee subspecies
- Eastern chimpanzees are among the most well-studied animals in the world thanks to the work of or inspired by Dr. Jane Goodall
- There are four common chimpanzee subspecies: Western chimpanzees, Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees, Central chimpanzees, and Eastern chimpanzees
Western chimpanzees are Critically Endangered. This means that there is an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
Chimpanzees are threatened by bushmeat hunting, illegal trade, habitat loss, habitat degradation, habitat fragmentation, and disease. All of these threats are due to human activities. Their populations are declining.
- Primates should never be pets.
- Chimpanzees become very large and are much stronger than humans.
- To become pets, baby chimpanzees are cruelly stolen from their mothers and endure trauma and abuse. In the wild, the mother, and often the entire family, is killed to capture one baby.
- Chimpanzees should be with their mothers for the first 10 years of their lives, with similar dependencies as human children.
- Chimpanzees belong with other chimpanzees.
- In most places, it is illegal to buy and sell chimpanzees. In many places, it is illegal to keep a chimpanzee as a pet.
- Chimpanzees are an Endangered species. There are strict regulations against trading in and keeping Endangered species.
- Chimpanzees should be protected in their natural habitats in Africa, which means that their habitats must also be protected.
Visit the EASTERN CHIMPANZEE Primate Species Profile