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  2. Chimpanzee

Chimpanzee

  1. Species
  2. Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
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Facts

  • Status
    Endangered
  • Population
    172,700 to 299,700
  • Scientific Name
    Pan troglodytes
  • Habitats
    Forests (moist and dry forests), Savannah Woodlands, and Grassland-Forest mosaics

Like us, chimps are highly social animals, care for their offspring for years and can live to be over 50. In fact, chimpanzees are our closest cousins; we share about 98% of our genes.


In their habitat in the forests of Central Africa, chimpanzees spend most of their days in the treetops. When they do come down to earth, chimps usually travel on all fours, though they can walk on their legs like humans for as far as a mile. They use sticks to fish termites out of mounds and bunches of leaves to sop up drinking water.

Browse Photos & Videos

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Why They Matter

  • Despite our shared lineage, humans are pushing chimpanzees toward extinction. Chimps have already disappeared completely from four countries and are under tremendous pressure everywhere else they live.

Threats

  • Population 172,700 to 299,700
  • Extinction Risk Endangered
    1. EX
      Extinct

      No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died

    2. EW
      Extinct in the Wild

      Known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population

    3. CR
      Critically Endangered

      Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the Wild

    4. EN
      Endangered

      Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild

    5. VU
      Vulnerable

      Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild

    6. NT
      Near Threatened

      Likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future

    7. LC
      Least Concern

      Does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near Threatened

Pan troglodytes Chimpanzee A male resting in the winter sun on a tree Chimfunshi Chimpanzee Orphanage, Zambia

Disease

Disease also stalks chimpanzees: Ebola outbreaks have killed tens of thousands of great apes.

Illegal Wildlife Trade

Poaching is another prominent threat. Bushmeat has always been a primary food source in Central and West Africa, but in recent years poaching has become commercialized to satisfy the appetites of wealthy urban residents. Infant chimpanzees are frequently taken alive and sold in cities as pets.

What WWF Is Doing

Chimpanzee

WWF establishes, strengthens, and manages protected areas in Central and West Africa. In Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Cameroon and other countries, we:

  •   protect chimpanzees through antipoaching and effective law enforcement
  •   help governments establish and manage national parks
  •   monitor chimpanzee populations
  •   encourage sustainable use of forest resources in park buffer zones
  •   build trans-boundary collaboration to develop partnerships between neighboring countries

We also develop chimpanzee-focused ecotourism and work to stop illegal poaching in logging concessions. WWF continues to look for ways to reduce the impact of the bushmeat trade on apes and other endangered species.

How You Can Help

Take Action

Join us to make change. Speak up for species and places through WWF's Action Center.

Adopt a Chimpanzee

Make a symbolic chimpanzee adoption to help save some of the world's most endangered animals from extinction and support WWF's conservation efforts.

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