Facts About Chimpanzees in Congo – Congo Safari Tours
Facts about Chimpanzees in Congo : Chimpanzees are one of four different kinds of “great apes.” Chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans are examples of large apes. Wild chimps can only be found in Africa. Chimpanzees and humans share 95 to 98 percent of their DNA. Chimpanzees are more closely linked to humans than to gorillas in terms of biology. Chimpanzees in Congo can be sighted during your Congo Safari Tours, in most of the equatorial forests in national parks such as Virunga National Park in Goma and Kahuzi-Biega National Park in Bukavu.
Here are some interesting facts about chimpanzees in Congo;
Physical Characteristics of Chimpanzees in Congo
During your chimpanzee trekking safari in Congo, you will notice that the chimpanzees in Congo have long black hair on their bodies, long arms and hands that allow them to pick up items, short legs, and no tail. Male chimps weigh roughly 150 pounds, while females range between 110 and 115 pounds. Chimpanzees live in groups of 30 to 80 individuals, with men, females, and young ones, and they have a life span of 50 years in the wild and up to 60 years in captivity.
Facts about Sexual Reproduction of Chimpanzees in Congo.
Chimpanzees reach sexual maturity between the ages of 8 and 12 years. Female chimps have an oestrus cycle that lasts around 34 to 35 days, during which they endure physical changes such as pink, naked, and swollen skin on the bottom. They also have an 8-month gestation period, give birth every 4 to 5 years, and have one kid who stays with its mother until it is around 3 years old. Because they are rapid climbers, they make their nests high in the trees by bending tree branches, filling tree edges with twigs, and building a platform.
Chimpanzee diet
Chimpanzees in Congo and chimps in general are omnivorous, eating plants, fruits, leaves, buds, petals, flowers, seeds, insects, and hunting small mammals such as monkeys and bushbucks. Chimpanzees take seeds and berries from stems with their mouths and select fruits and flowers with their hands while feeding. Their food consists of up to 80 different plants, and they employ tools such as pebbles to split nuts, sticks to harvest termites from anthills, protect themselves against attackers, and build sponges from leaves to soak up water when drinking from tree holes.
Chimpanzees in Congo use tools
This sophisticated primate is one of the few animals known to utilize tools, as primatologist Jane Goodall discovered in 1960. “Now we must redefine ‘tool,’ redefine’ man,’ or recognize chimps as people,” archaeologist Louis Leakey declared after her momentous discovery.
Chimpanzees shape and utilize sticks to remove insects from their nests or dig grubs out of logs, as witnessed by Goodall. They utilize stones to crack open delicious nuts and leaves as sponges to absorb drinking water. Chimpanzees may even be trained to communicate using rudimentary human sign language.
How do Chimpanzees communicate?
Chimpanzees in general are among the noisiest primates, communicating with each other through facial expressions and body language, as well as noises such as hooting, screaming, grunting, and drumming, among others.
Threats to the existence of Chimpanzees in Congo.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has labelled the chimp an endangered species, blaming it mostly on the world’s growing human population. As humans expand their geographic spread, they wipe away the chimp’s woodland habitat to make space for agriculture. Deforestation, mining, oil drilling, and new road and highway construction all pose a danger to the chimp’s habitat.
Chimpanzees in Congo are also deemed endangered owing to a number of factors that contribute to their plight, including:
- Illnesses, chimps living on the outside of protected areas may be exposed to human diseases, which can lead to death if not treated.
- Accidental snaring in wire snares set out for antelopes that end up killing or harming chimps
- Chimpanzees are sought for commerce, slaughtered for meat by local people, while some are killed as a result of crop raiding.
- Loss of chimp habitat owing to destruction of certain forests in Uganda that serves as habitat for endangered chimps, as well as invasion of land due to human growth.
Where to see Chimpanzees in Congo.
Chimpanzees in Congo can be seen during a chimpanzee trekking tour in Virunga National Park or in Bukavu National Park. Congo Safaris Tours organized by Explore Rwanda Tours, a trusted tour operator company with offices in Uganda and Rwanda, organizes some of the best chimpanzees tracking safaris in Congo. Contact info@congosafaristours.com for more information on chimpanzee trekking safaris in Congo and book affordable chimp and gorilla trekking safaris in Congo.
Cost of a Chimpanzee Trekking Permit in Congo.
Chimpanzee trekking permits in Congo cost 100$ per person. Chimpanzee trekking safaris in Congo start as early as 4:30am with a briefing from the head ranger at the park, and actual tracking starts at 6am. Once the chimpanzees have been located, trekkers are given only an hour to spend with the chimpanzees.
