Message about chimpanzees. Where do monkeys live: their habitat Common chimpanzee

Chimpanzee. Information for children

There are many interesting information about chimpanzees for children. Children are always fascinated by these animals because of their physical resemblance to humans.

Chimpanzee most closely resemble humans among the representatives of the animal kingdom. By the way, chimpanzees share 98% of human genetic makeup. One of the interesting facts for children is that humans and chimpanzees had the same ancestors millions of years ago. Today they are endangered. “Why are they endangered?” - a question that interests many children. It is important to have a plan of action to prevent the extinction of these mammals. Let's take a look at some information about chimpanzees for children.

Interesting facts about chimpanzees for children

How often do we see large crowds of children near the chimpanzee cage at the zoo! Children are attracted by the expressive faces of these animals. At the same time, they are also very social, so children love to tease them and have fun. Kids will love the story of how a chimpanzee escaped from the Little Rock Zoo and then started cleaning the bathroom! What other animal could do something like that? Now let's take a look at some facts about the endangered chimpanzees.

Chimpanzee. Habitat Chimpanzee. Physical characteristics . They have different complexions: from pink to black. Their body is covered with long black hair. But the most interesting fact about chimpanzees for children is the absence of a tail. They have fingers that help them hold various objects with ease. Although they are very similar to humans, differences still exist. They can walk on all four limbs. Although they typically walk on all fours for short distances, they can also walk on two. Being monkeys, they can also move from branch to branch. In an upright position, their height is 122 cm. Male chimpanzees are larger than females. Males weigh from 40 to 54 kg, females - from 27 to 50 kg.

This is a chimpanzee natural look on the African continent. Previously, they could often be found in Gambia, Benin, and Burkina Faso. However, nowadays they are barely detectable. Chimpanzees usually live in tropical forests, as well as in forested areas, bamboo forests, swamps and sometimes open savannas. The fields are also habitat for chimpanzees. They usually live in trees and use leaves as nests.

Chimpanzee. Nutrition Like humans, chimpanzees are omnivores. Chimpanzees eat a variety of foods, from fruits, nuts and seeds to insects. Sometimes they may hunt for food. They usually hunt small baboons. They can also feed on buds, bark and tree trunks.

Chimpanzee social behavior Chimpanzees are social animals. They live in communities of approximately 50 members. There are from 3 to 6 families living in the community. There is a strict hierarchy within the group. The largest and strongest male chimpanzee leads the group. Typically, adult females can be part of various groups. However, when it comes to territory, there are strict rules. Conflicts usually arise when groups try to invade another's territory.

Chimpanzee. Offspring. At the age of 8-10 years, chimpanzees reach sexual maturity. Soon they begin to mate. One of the most interesting facts about chimpanzees is that a female chimpanzee does not mate until her offspring are three years old. Doesn't this confirm the fact that chimpanzee mothers are very devoted? Pregnancy lasts from 202 to 261 days. Typically, when chimpanzee mothers move from tree to tree, their babies cling to their mother's body. They stay with their mother until they reach sexual maturity, during which time they learn the rules of life from their mother.

Chimpanzee facts and information Unlike humans, chimpanzees use various means for a variety of purposes. They create tools for various reasons. Isn't this fact about chimpanzees interesting? They use branches and grass to create a means to catch termites from the bark of trees. They also use sticks and stones as projectiles when fighting. It is also interesting to observe how chimpanzees use stones to crack hard-shelled nuts.

Another interesting fact about chimpanzees: they are very gentle creatures. Chimpanzees can often be seen touching each other tenderly. They may even kiss and hold hands sometimes. Like humans, they use verbal and nonverbal signs to communicate. They make distinctive calls when they want to notify other members of the group that they have found food or are in danger. As a way nonverbal communication they use different facial expressions.

These were some interesting facts about chimpanzees for kids. Now we understand that there are also other animals, who are as smart as people. This may be why chimpanzees were also used to fly into space.

The common chimpanzee (lat. Pan troglodytes) is a large ape from the Hominidae family. The animal has a wide range of means for transmitting information. Communication is carried out using a variety of signals based on gestures, sounds, body position and movements, as well as unusually rich facial expressions.

The name of the monkey comes from the word kivili-chimpanze, taken from the language of the African Luba people (Bantu group). It can be translated as a laughing or mocking person.

Among Africans there is a widespread belief that chimpanzees abduct children and women. Adults often tell the younger generation about how vilely these creatures behave and, for pedagogical purposes, clearly demonstrate their habits.

In European culture, the attitude towards Pan troglodytes is completely different. Representatives of this species are perceived as harmless and cheerful clowns, designed to enthusiastically entertain the public with their funny grimaces and antics.

Spreading

There are 4 subspecies. The nominate subspecies P.t. troglodytes was first described by German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in 1775 as Simia troglodytes. In his opinion, this primate resembled primitive people, which is why it was called a troglodyte. From the ancient Greek language τρωγλοδύτης is translated as “living in a cave.”

This subspecies has characteristic facial freckles on its whitish skin, which becomes grayish in color as it matures. Freckles also increase in size. It lives in Central Africa in the basin of the Congo and Niger rivers.

The Schweinfurth chimpanzee (P.t. schweinfurthii) is found near lakes Tanganyika and Victoria, the Ubangi and Luabala rivers. It is distinguished by relatively long hair and dirty-dark skin.

The Western chimpanzee (P.t. verus) is distributed in West Africa in Sierra Leone and Guinea east of the Niger River. His face is black, with lighter areas near the chin and around the eyebrows.

The Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzee (P.t. vellerosus) is the rarest, living on the border of Cameroon and Nigeria.

The entire habitat covers the space from Senegal and Mali to the Central African Republic and the Republic of the Congo. The primate demonstrates adaptability to different conditions environment and is observed in different biotopes. It is well adapted to life in jungles, dry savannas, forests and wetlands. In the mountains it is observed at altitudes up to 2800 m above sea level.

Behavior

Monkeys are active during daylight hours. They roost in trees in nests constructed from branches and leaves 9-12 m above the ground. Each time it is transferred to a new place, and the nests are built anew. During the rainy season, primates can spend several days in a row in them, patiently waiting for the rain to stop. heavy rain. They sleep on their sides, curled up.

Animals form groups of 20-80 individuals, which break up into small groups to search for food during the day and gather again to spend the night together.

Adult chimpanzees often prefer to find food alone, so as not to share the supplies they find with their relatives. They only occasionally join transient small communities for short periods of time.

Large groups are controlled and protected by strong and old males. They maintain a strict hierarchical structure in them, showing their importance in every possible way through shouting and aggressive behavior. The leaders scream loudly, drum on tree trunks, throw stones and branches, making fast runs and jumps. They spend a lot of time and energy to strengthen and constantly maintain their leadership. The leaders go to any lengths to extend their powers of power. Being born politicians, they create temporary coalitions and widely use various kinds of bribes for the potential electorate.

The cohesion of the herd is greatly helped by mutual cleaning of fur and the destruction of annoying insects. Males adore this procedure and willingly perform it on each other’s body.

Females, as a rule, do not show much interest in social activities and do not pretend to career in the table of ranks, although they exist. Ladies occupying a higher position differ from their lower comrades in that they give birth to offspring much more often. This indifference to careerism is partly explained by the fact that young females leave the maternal group, while males remain and are forced to fight for their place in the sun.

Warlike monkeys, or war in Gombe Stream

Large groups of chimpanzees occupy fairly large home ranges. In forests their area ranges from 5 to 40, and in savannas from 120 to 560 square kilometers. Their borders are constantly and very jealously patrolled by small detachments of young border guards. They serve vigilantly and attack any stranger en masse, demonstrating sadistic cruelty towards him. He is not only persecuted and driven out of the protected area, but also seriously injured. Border guards often maim and kill both members of the same sex and unfertilized females.

This aggressive behavior in the form of real hostilities is characteristic of humans and is not observed among other primates. IN national park Gombe Stream in Tanzania, from 1974 to 1978, saw an intermittent war between two groups of chimpanzees occupying the northern and southern parts of the territory. Initially, it was one team, divided into two warring camps for unknown reasons.

Observation civil war carried out and documented by British researcher Valerie Jane Goodall. The Southern forces at the height of the fighting consisted of 6 adult males and 3 females with cubs. The more numerous northerners were represented by 8 males and 12 females.

The beginning of irreconcilable hostility was the murder on January 7, 1974, by six northerners of a southerner named Godi, who was peacefully dining on fruit on a tree. Next, the villains killed one female, beat two and took three away by force. They soon pushed the southerners south, taking away their best fruit trees.

Subsequently, military operations occurred with enviable regularity and varying success. Opponents used stones, branches and other improvised means in the fight against the enemy. In the end, the primates, who were initially defeated, united with the third group and with common efforts reconquered the lost lands.

Chimpanzees and tools

Pan troglodytes has the ability to use various objects as tools. Clever monkeys use chewed leaves to make a kind of sponge to extract the remaining rainwater from the hollow of a tree. They insert grass stalks into termite mounds and use them to extract termites; stones and thick branches are used as a hammer and anvil for breaking nuts. Using gnarled sticks, primates bend branches to the ground like hooks to get to ripe fruits.

For hunting and self-defense, stones and sticks are widely used, which they sometimes sharpen on one side like spears. The use of a homemade spear is more typical for anthropoids that live in savannas.

It has been noticed that they often store such weapons in certain places in case of unexpected aggression by hostile groups.

Such behavior is not innate, but rather acquired. Young people actively learn useful skills from their older comrades. Certain tools may be used in one population and be completely unfamiliar even to primates living nearby.

Nutrition

The chimpanzee is an ordinary omnivore, but the basis of its diet is food of plant origin. From 45 to 76% of the menu are occupied by fruits and nuts, leaves account for from 12 to 45%. The remainder consists of flowers, seeds and insects.

From time to time, monkeys hunt small artiodactyls and primates such as red colobus monkeys, galagos and even baboons. The obtained meat is divided by the males among all members of the group according to their place in the social hierarchy and as gifts. to the right people" A flexible approach to the division of prey allows hunters to manipulate public opinion. Meat is considered an exquisite delicacy among them, but its share in the diet does not exceed 2%. In one day, an adult animal usually eats no more than 65-100 g of it. Ladies have much less passion for it than gentlemen.

Reproduction

Common chimpanzees are capable of breeding at any time of the year. Estrus in females lasts 36 days, and estrus is about one week. They are able to become pregnant at the age of 5-6 years, but, as a rule, due to the established hierarchy in the herd, this does not happen earlier than 13-14 years. Males become sexually mature at about 7 years old, but are usually allowed to reproduce only at 15-16 years old. Unlike humans and gorillas, this species does not have menopause, so females are able to bear healthy offspring even in old age.

Sexual behavior can take the most various forms. Typically, females mate with a large number of males, at the same time often forming married couples, in which the happy head of the family protects his chosen one from ubiquitous competitors and does not pay attention to other beauties. Sometimes a couple in love leaves their family for a few days to enjoy happiness away from their annoying relatives. Buying a beauty's favor in exchange for food supplies is also widespread.

Pregnancy lasts on average 230 days. As a rule, one cub is born; twins are very rare. The newborn weighs approximately 1.9 kg. He spends the first six months on his mother's chest, tightly clutching her fur with his paws, and then moves onto her back. Milk feeding continues until the age of 3.5-4.5 years, but then the baby often remains with the mother until the age of ten.

Description

Body length is 64-94 cm. Height on the hind limbs ranges from 100 to 170 cm. Males weigh 35-70 kg, and smaller females weigh 26-50 kg. In captivity, many animals are prone to obesity and weigh more than 80 kg.

The fur is black or dark brown. The forelimbs are much longer than the hind limbs. The fingers are long except for the short thumb. On foot thumb opposed to the others.

The face is devoid of vegetation. It is lighter than that of bonobos (Pan paniscus) and becomes darker as they grow older. Its color has regional differences. On the sides of the head, round ears protruding to the sides are clearly visible. The brow ridges are strongly developed, the muzzle protrudes noticeably forward. Males have larger fangs than females.

The lifespan of a common chimpanzee in the wild is 40-45 years. Currently, all subspecies are in danger of extinction. Their total number is estimated at 170-300 thousand individuals.

Common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes - lat.)- class of mammals, order of primates, family of anthropoids or hominids, genus of chimpanzee, species of common chimpanzee. The habitat is located in the central and western part of Equatorial Africa.

Appearance. These are large animals, up to 1.5 m tall and weighing up to 50 kg or more. Sexual dimorphism is weakly expressed - females are slightly smaller and lighter than males. The head is large - the brain volume is about 600 cubic meters. cm. The ears are large, almost human. A pulled-up lip and a small, snub nose, as well as expressive facial expressions, give the chimpanzee the appearance of a humanoid creature. The face, feet and hands are covered with wrinkled skin. Complexion ranges from light to dark. The skin of the body and limbs is light. Chimpanzees are covered with black fur and all have a white beard on their faces. Very long, muscular, long-fingered arms and a short first digit help chimpanzees move through trees and foraging for food. The legs are short, the first toe is stronger than the others.

Nutrition method. Chimpanzees are omnivores. Their main diet is plant food: bark of trees and shrubs, shoots, leaves, seeds, fruits, nuts, juicy fruits. From animal food, chimpanzees readily eat spiders, grasshoppers, various larvae, ants and termites, which they collect using tools - thin sticks on which insects are collected. In addition, they actively hunt amphibians, amphibians, and birds, and also destroy their nests. They kill, tear into pieces and eat even small animals and monkeys.

Social behavior and reproduction. Common chimpanzees are diurnal animals. At night, each monkey builds a nest high above the ground from branches and leaves. Only females and their young sleep together. During the day, chimpanzees spend about a third of their time on the ground, and the rest of the time in the trees.

Chimpanzees are social - each group maintains a strict hierarchy. Groups vary in composition and number of individuals: usually one male dominates a group of females, their cubs and males subordinate to him. There are groups consisting only of females with cubs led by a female. There are groups of young males who obey one leader. There are the smallest associations of a female and a male. The number of chimpanzees in a troop can be more than 40 individuals.

The breeding season for chimpanzees lasts throughout the year. After 7.5 months of pregnancy, the female has only one offspring - helpless and naked. The baby is completely dependent on its mother for several years. Males mature at 8 years of age, and females begin to reproduce at 7–10 years of age. Common chimpanzees live over 55 years.

Chimpanzees live in the wild in South-West Africa (Republic of Guinea) and Central Africa (Belgian Congo). According to the descriptions of Nissen, who observed the lifestyle of chimpanzees in the French region research station "Pastoria", the nature there is extremely picturesque and diverse. Dense forest thickets alternate with open, hilly clearings covered with tall grass.

Panthers are hiding in the thickets and wild cats, huge buffalos and wild boars rush, breaking their way through the thicket of the forest, numerous herds of baboons wander, deer and antelopes run through in search of new pastures; Green monkeys are jumping through the trees; on the ground, rustling with long quills, porcupines make their way, giant snakes crawl hissing, every minute ready to curl up in a ball and jump up to catch and squeeze the victim in their grip. In the shallow rivers that cut through the terrain here and there, crocodiles lie motionless on the water. Flocks of birds fly in the air, countless insects flash and chirp.

But when night comes, a black, warm, humid tropical night, then all living things calm down, rest, calm down, but do not freeze completely. Here and there, against the background of sounds made by various animals, single chimpanzee cries are occasionally heard.

Shortly before sunrise, these screams become more frequent and louder. With the first glimmers of daylight, the black “four-armed” inhabitants of the forest awaken, they stand up on their night beds-nests located in the forks of the trees and carefully look around. Seeing their relatives on numerous adjacent trees, also sitting in nests, they announce the surrounding area with thunderous, rolling, hooting and grunting sounds, audible 10 km or more. Vocalization lasts from half a minute to half an hour. Then the chimpanzees start eating.

If the tree on which the nests are located contains edible stems, leaves, flowers or fruits (especially Naray's favorite fruits), then the chimpanzees begin to eat them, remaining on the same tree.

For the first half hour, they greedily consume food, often swallowing inedible parts (seeds, grains, nut shells), but as they become full, they become more and more picky.

Without leaving the tree, the chimpanzee most often grabs an edible fruit with his free hand, either his right or his left, and brings it to his mouth. To reach a high-lying fruit, the monkey pulls on a branch, bringing the fruit directly to its mouth and biting it off. A chimpanzee was once observed eating plums while hanging upside down from a tree.

Depending on the quality of the fruit, the chimpanzee swallows some of them whole, chews others well, and processes others by removing the outer skin and eating only the contents. But there are fruits that have both edible and inedible parts inside them; The chimpanzee eats the first ones, and throws away the last ones. In some cases, processing (for example, peeling) is carried out by the monkey so thoroughly that the removed skin is not torn off in shreds, but retains the configuration of the fruit. Juice is squeezed out of some monkey fruits. Nissen cites an observation of a female chimpanzee squeezing the juice of a Bomenti fruit into the open mouth of her baby. This fact, according to Nissen, was confirmed by the natives.

When searching for fruits on the same tree, chimpanzees do not observe any order in their search: they move from right to left, from the top to the base of the tree, from one branch to another.

Usually the chimpanzee stays on the tree until it picks all the fruits. Then he moves to another tree or moves to a new place where there is more food. Sometimes, seeing fruits on adjacent trees, the chimpanzee simply jumps from tree to tree (sometimes high altitude), then descends to the lower branches, and then to the ground. You can often see how a chimpanzee, being about 12 meters from the ground, clinging to a branch with its hands, swings, jumps forward and down to the ground, and then climbs up the tree on which it noticed the fruits.

Some flowers are also edible for chimpanzees; he takes the opportunity to catch with his hand and eat an insect flying nearby (beetle, dragonfly, butterfly), or climb into a bird's nest and drink bird eggs, or climb into a hollow and enjoy sweet honey, which he eats especially willingly.

Chimpanzees climb down from thick tree trunks with their heads up, and from thin tree trunks - head down. In general, a chimpanzee climbs up a tree more easily than gets down from it. Rarely does it move through trees in a horizontal position, using four limbs.

Food is found in abundance all around; it is extremely diverse in appearance, color, shape, size, consistency, taste and smell.

The fruits are most often bright and dark green, brown, orange, yellow, less often - red, light purple, black. The shape of the fruits is also varied: often the fruits are spherical, less often in
de pods (Dundrch, Foray, Bonkwey); there are heart-shaped fruits (Naray); disc-shaped, lemon-shaped (Soujinyeh), oval (Gerenyi), in the form of clusters of berries (Mowkch).

As the sun rises higher and higher, chimpanzees leave the treetops and head to more shaded areas to search for food on the ground.

There are cases when chimpanzees, setting off on a further journey in a group, starting from a feeding place, break or tear off branches with fruits and drag them behind them, eating the fruits along the way. Often a broken branch with fruit is thrown to the ground; it is possible that, having tasted the fruits, chimpanzees reject them as inedible. The favorite food of chimpanzees (Troglodytes Schweinfurtii) is the large round, head-sized, brown fruits of a huge tree from the breadfruit family (Treculia). This fruit contains about a thousand seeds, the size of a bean, and the monkey carries it on his head, straightening up and standing on his feet, walking upright, like a man.

According to the observations of the natives, chimpanzees sometimes dig up wild sweet potatoes and the roots of certain plants from the ground.

Digging up roots during the summer drought, after the disappearance of greenery, has also been observed in Tenerife chimpanzees. It is characteristic that they dug the earth not only with their hands, but even with a stick in their hand, with which they dug the earth to a much greater depth than when they dug it with their hands.

Slowly, with stops, a group of chimpanzees (from 4 to 14 individuals) moves from place to place during the day, usually including several adult males, females, teenagers and very small cubs.

At the head of the group is the largest animal (male or female), teenagers run near their mother, babies hang under the mother’s breast, and older babies sit astride her back, tenaciously holding onto the fur with their hands.

The procession of the group is sometimes carried out randomly, but in one direction, and the appearance of one animal after another can be separated by a 5-10-15 minute period of time. Sometimes a group of chimpanzees (6 individuals) walks in single file at a close distance from each other.

Typically, chimpanzees move on all fours with a slow, measured, rhythmic gait, with stops, covering about 7-10 km per day, wandering mainly during the day. They sometimes migrate hundreds of miles.

There is great wariness of chimpanzees, especially the leader, during movement. Having heard or seen a suspicious object or person in the bushes, the leader immediately looks in the direction of danger; after him, other chimpanzees begin to look in the same direction. One day it was observed that a female chimpanzee with two babies, when looking at people in the distance, moved her head down and up, left and right, in order to better see them; she left, reappeared and peered intently into the distance.

Persons who observed natural life chimpanzees emphasize that chimpanzees are curious. Having discovered danger, a chimpanzee often does not hide from it, but begins to examine the object that inspired fear. Nissen testifies to this: “The chimpanzee sitting on the ground looked intently in my direction, ... to get a better look at me, he moved up and down, right and left, and even moved away several sagging branches that blocked his view. He disappeared and after 1-2 minutes he appeared and looked again...” And another case. A huge black chimpanzee “looked at us first from one place, then from another, about 5 m away. He walked on all fours, but when he looked, he straightened up, holding his hand on a tree trunk or a hanging branch above. He moved back four or five times and then disappeared.” From these descriptions it is clear how strong the orienting reaction of chimpanzees is.

Chimpanzees are very sociable creatures. He is apparently afraid to be left alone, to be separated from his herd. A case was recorded in the wild when one female chimpanzee, lagging behind the general procession, uttered plaintive, screaming, moaning cries, and at this time she hit the tree with her hand (from 1 to 3 times), and once, when she was screaming especially irritably, she suddenly grabbed hanging branch above and pulled it down and up several times. No less interesting is another case when a chimpanzee, in a state of excitement, grabbed the fruits of a tree and tore them off.

Chimpanzees spend the time before noon walking, searching, and consuming food. But the hotter the day gets, the more the monkeys are drawn to rest, since they cannot stand the heat and try to hide from it. The onset of scorching heat stops the movement of the monkeys. Usually they approach the edge of the forest, where they settle down to rest or sleep on branches or forks in the shade of trees, or settle down on the ground in daytime nests, the so-called daytime beds.

These beds are patches of soil that the chimpanzees cover with thickets of grass, bent small shrubs, very young trees, or leafy branches of broken nearby trees. Sometimes small trees hang over these areas, bent by monkeys so that a kind of umbrella or canopy is formed. Sometimes these sun umbrellas are obtained by monkeys weaving together young shoots growing nearby to shade the “day beds” underneath. Sometimes these daytime nests are located in naturally shaded areas of the forest. On areas (about 7-8 m in size) that serve as daytime nests for monkeys, the grass is usually heavily crushed. Adult animals most often sleep during rest hours, young animals spend time playing.

Chimpazee's straw nest at the zoo. Photo: Martin Pettitt

The play of young animals is, first of all, a manifestation of a wide variety of motor activity: climbing trees, running, galloping on the ground, jumping from branch to branch and from tree to ground, swinging on branches, rolling on the ground. Grown-up cubs play catching and attacking. The game usually involves no more than two partners, approximately six years of age. To provoke a response, chimpanzees push, tickle their partner with their hands or feet and immediately run away to the side with lightning speed. Sometimes in the midst of play, babies try to bite each other. At the same time, they scream, perhaps from pain or fear. The game of young people can last up to 20 minutes; Usually the game is shorter and lasts 3-4 minutes.

As an exception, cases of chimpanzees playing with objects have been observed. For example, a six-year-old chimpanzee was once seen sitting in front of a stream and splashing the water with his hand; in another case, a chimpanzee, sitting in front of slowly flowing water and looking into it, grimaced and raised its head.

Nissen's descriptions cite one remarkable case when two adolescent chimpanzees (5-8 years old) were playing around a pile of leafy branches. They rode on it, after a while they moved a short distance and then again ran back to this pile and threw themselves on it. This went on for about 2 minutes; the object of the game turned out to be a kind of upside-down basket made of dense woody rubber vines. These vines were intertwined. It is possible, as Nissen thinks, that “this basket was originally designed by monkeys in the form of a “sun umbrella”, and later used as an object of play." The author excludes its manufacture by humans. Persons who observed chimpanzees in the wild note that with age, the play activity of chimpanzees decreases; adult, sexually mature chimpanzees usually do not play.

As the heat subsides, chimpanzees become active again and go on new searches for food. Typically, chimpanzees feed regularly in the early morning and late evening; at other times of the day they eat at indeterminate intervals.

Just before sunset, the chimpanzees prepare for the night's rest. They settle down for the night and begin building nests where dusk finds them. At this time, they often make moaning sounds in chorus until sunset. Usually one chimpanzee starts; later others join him.

Nests are usually built by adult chimpanzees; the cub is placed in the same nest with the mother, who builds a larger nest than solitary-nesting chimpanzees. The young begin to independently build a nest when they stop sleeping with their mother. It is known that babies live with their mother from the day they are born until they are 3-9 years old.

Before starting to build nests, members of the group walk through the forest, looking up, and seem to be looking for trees that are most suitable for nest building. Typically, they select trees that have forks perpendicular to the main trunk of the tree. If the nests are located in dense valley forests, then they are completely hidden from the observer. On sparsely wooded hills they are more noticeable. The nests of each chimpanzee family are usually located on neighboring trees, spaced from one another no further than 60 m. On one tree there are on average 1, 2, 3 nests located at a height of 2 to 16 m, but up to 13 nests can be placed chimpanzee.

Trees of various kinds are used to build nests, but each nest is built from branches of the tree on which it is located.

The foliage of nesting trees is different: the leaves are either wide or needle-shaped, reminiscent of the needles of our conifers (pine or spruce), and sometimes contain edible fruits (Naray, Gerenii, etc.). Palm trees are never used to build nests.

A chimpanzee, having climbed a tree, usually begins to make a nest at a level of 4 to 34 m from the ground. When building a nest, he stands in the middle of the base of the nest and takes out tree branches from one side or the other, tilting them towards himself; while the monkey's leg holds the branches in place and participates in the rough process of braiding them from above. The nest is never braided from below. The movements of chimpanzees when building a nest are fast but leisurely. Usually the entire construction is completed in 2-3 minutes, but sometimes the nest-building can last up to 25 minutes if the chimpanzee is distracted by eating, communicating with relatives, etc.

The chimpanzee's nest is oval in shape, concave with inside; it measures 47.5 x 57.5 cm and is 17.5 cm deep; it is built symmetrically and open at the top. The supporting part of the nest is the main horizontal fork of a tree, on which broken branches of the same tree, quite thick (up to 2 inches), are piled up and down, although the thickness of the branches can vary.

The chimpanzee intertwines some of the branches that make up the support of the nest, which provides better adhesion of the parts and strength of the nest. The chimpanzee does not break elastic branches, but only bends them. Inner surface the nest is lined with broken apical shoots of a tree, and the deepened cavity of the nest is abundantly filled with leaves of the same tree; the leaves form a soft lining of the nest, providing the monkey with comfort while sitting or lying in the nest.

There is free air space above most of the nests. This allows the chimpanzee in the nest to survey the area and promptly detect anything suspicious or threatening to it.

Typically, a chimpanzee only uses the nest for one night. However, there is evidence that when returning to the same sites, chimpanzees can re-occupy old nests.

Often, when reusing a nest, the monkey has to renew it, since usually already on the fourth or fifth day the nest begins to deteriorate severely. In these cases, the chimpanzee additionally lines the nest with fresh, soft material, which provides more warmth and makes less noise when the monkey moves in the nest. Having built a nest, the chimpanzee settles down in it for the night and remains in it until the morning.

Given suitable conditions, chimpanzees build nests in trees and in captivity. Köhler reports that if a tree with foliage is placed on the site where the animals are located, the preparation of the nest begins within a few moments. The little chimpanzee Koko was still poorly able to climb a tree, but when he managed to climb at least 3 m, he bent the branches and immediately built a nest. Other adult chimpanzees made nests on the ground from a variety of objects.

Nest building in trees was a favorite activity of the young male chimpanzee Chima. But the young female chimpanzee Panzi did not build nests in the trees; she occasionally made only initial attempts to construct a nest on the ground.

Chim has occasionally successfully built several tree nests in New Hampshire. He climbed a tree, pulled twigs and branches towards him within their reach and, having pulled them up, folded them under him, broke small branches nearby and threw them onto the nest. Within 5 or 10 min. Chim built a nest of twigs and covered them with leaves; the nest was located at a level of 3-4.5 m from the ground; it was comfortable and strong enough to hold a chimpanzee sitting in it. Having made a nest, Chim used it for a short time, after which he turned to other activities. The chimpanzee never made a roof over the nest or tried to cover himself with branches or leaves while lying in the nest (as orangs usually do). He was more concerned with the construction process than with the use of the nest; he rarely reused nests that had already been built. Chim clearly preferred to make new nests in a new place. On the ground or indoors, Chim could construct nests from almost any suitable material, even from a rug, which he pulled towards him and folded.

The female chimpanzee Panzi once or twice climbed a tree and looked at the nest built by Chim or lay in it.

During field observations of the life of a chimpanzee in the wild, some of its characteristic psychological traits are noted.

IN open places, where the chimpanzee is less protected than in the forest, he develops fear. It has been observed, for example, that chimpanzees retreat when a group of monkeys approaches. Nissen cites a case in which a female chimpanzee was frightened by a large bird flying above her, circling above a tree, under which, apparently, there was a baby monkey. Sensing danger, the female and the baby looked around and changed their position, and her lips trembled at the same time. The chimpanzee exhibits fear of humans, especially when the person walks towards the chimpanzee.

There are numerous examples demonstrating the chimpanzee's observation skills, caution and vigilance. For example, a chimpanzee easily notices every foreign, especially artificial, object that appears against the background of its familiar natural landscape.

In addition, he notices both the person’s attention specifically directed towards him and the person’s presence in general. In the first case, he tries to hide, in the second, he remains calm.

Nissen conducted the following experiment: a group of expedition members, making their way through the forest where chimpanzees were discovered, were asked to alternately not look at the chimpanzees, then pay attention to them. As a result of the observation, it turned out that in the first case, “some animals came down from the trees, but the majority remained where they were; in the second case, all the chimpanzees immediately moved 18 and disappeared.”

The chimpanzee itself does not attack a person, but when a person attacks him, he defends himself fiercely. As Junker writes, “Hunting chimpanzees is easy and convenient when you first find their hiding place. They move in the trees with measured steps and carefully, so that they cannot escape from a hunter with a good gun, like monkeys of other breeds, for example, the agile jumper Colobus, which above, in the leafy crown, runs from one tree to another faster than the hunter below can follow him into the dense bush. The chimpanzee, on the contrary, tries to hide and, in order to continue its journey, descends to the ground, where it can easily escape in the forest. An adult chimpanzee even there enters into a fight; his strength is great, he has powerful jaws, so in single combat he is a dangerous opponent... The strength of even a young chimpanzee is amazing. I once had difficulty snatching a stick from the paws of a half-grown animal. The baby is already grasping the finger so tightly with its paws that a certain amount of effort is required to free it.”

But a chimpanzee is able to get used to the presence of a person and to other phenomena that previously frightened him. Nissen cites a case where a group of chimpanzees were feeding at a distance of 76 m from a place where several native women were noisily washing clothes, talking and laughing. Chimpanzees were not afraid of the noise and whistle of the locomotive, building nests even not far (100 English yards) from the railway tracks.

The most important factor ensuring the survival of chimpanzees is their gregariousness. The strongest animal - the leader - takes care of protecting the entire herd. He is always ahead of everyone, the first to come to the rescue of the weak and little ones in trouble, and often at the risk of his life he goes to a suspicious place to save the cubs who have lagged behind. Cases of weak monkeys being carried from place to place by healthy monkeys have been described.

In life in the wild, the relationship between members of a chimpanzee herd is closely related to their ability to produce a variety of sounds that act as signals (vocal, vibratory, tapping), as well as to use facial movements and gestures. The rich facial expressions of a chimpanzee express subtle shades of its emotional states associated with sexual moments, with the manifestation of family and parental feelings in both females and males. These senses are highly developed in chimpanzees. Juncker vividly describes the behavior of a female caring for her calf in danger.

“At first I made my way through endless bushes, then the vaulted crowns of huge trees appeared above us. Meanwhile, some people were watching the movement of the animals and greeted me with exclamations: Over there! Chimpanzee! But the tree was so tall that I did not immediately notice one animal moving in the deciduous thicket... the chimpanzee left his place, and I clearly saw how the cub grabbed him around his chest. The female hurriedly looked for a sheltered place and, protecting the cub with her body, disappeared into the fork of two powerful branches. Only the fifth bullet knocked her down, despite the fact that I later found several severe bullet wounds on her. The old female finally instinctively drove the cub away from her, so that he remained unharmed at the top of the tree.”

Nissen cites the case of the selflessness of a male who saved his little cub. A family group of chimpanzees (3-4 individuals) passing in the same direction apparently noticed the observer, as some monkeys began to look at him; from time to time they stopped and then moved on. Then, as the author writes, “an exciting moment came: a large, well-built male, the largest I had ever seen, stopped, looked around and, leaning his hands on the rock, remained in an upright position for about two minutes. He looked at me persistently, without signs of fear. Again and again he looked in the direction from which the animals came and where they went. There was no excitement; he was gigantic, white-faced, silent. Suddenly and without warning he walked on all fours straight towards me: I thought it best to fall to the ground; About 9 meters from me, he stopped, grabbed something and ran back at random along the inclined plane. He was carrying a baby chimpanzee (maybe three years old). When he came closer to the top of a small valley, 7 meters from where he had stood before, he sat down with his back against a tree, facing me. He held the young animal in front of him between his legs.

The big male was clearly breathing heavily... I think what happened was that the young animal took a course towards me (west to southwest), I did not see him, and he did not see me, but the old male saw us both and noticed that the baby was walking in the direction of danger. To save the baby, perhaps his son or daughter, he went down at risk to himself. Remarkably, he didn't give any warning signal. I did not hear any vocalizations or other sounds produced by any animal during the entire observation period” 2.

Already from the above descriptions it is clear how, in the living conditions of a chimpanzee in the wild, he exhibits rapid orientation in difficult situations and how highly developed his adaptability to the environment is.

To complete the overview of the life of chimpanzees in natural conditions, we will mention the sounds made by chimpanzees and the ways in which they communicate with their own kind.

1. the sound of excitement or a choking cry;

2. cry of fear, pain;

3. barking, similar to the barking of dogs, as an expression of anger and irritation;

4. crying, whining;

5. Grumbling when eating food is a sign of satisfaction.

When analyzing the sounds made by chimpanzees, we established more subtle gradations, distinguishing 23 natural sounds.

According to Nissen, chimpanzees have 12 periods of sound activity during the day, each of which lasts from 0.5 minutes. up to 0.5 hours.

At dusk, as at night, chimpanzees rarely make sounds. Based on observations made on chimpanzees in the wild, Nissen notes that they have three methods of communication:

1. visual - through gestures;

2. tactile - by direct touch of one animal to another;

3. vibrator - by tapping on thick tree trunks and on the ground.

Nissen points out that a person can barely distinguish this last sound at a distance of 15 m, and argues that this sound is a communicative signal of danger. Judging by our observations of young chimpanzees, sometimes such tapping serves as a manifestation of the chimpanzee's playfulness and, perhaps, expresses a state of joyful excitement at moments of a kind of release of accumulated muscle energy. So, for example, our chimpanzee Joni sharply knocked the knuckles of one hand on hard objects, looking defiantly at a person, and after that he playfully jumped on him, or rushed past him.

It is important to note that in natural conditions, chimpanzees are surrounded by a rich plant world, colorful and diverse with an abundance of food of various types, colors, shapes, external and internal structures. This is associated with wide possibilities for the emergence of a selective attitude of chimpanzees to a rich assortment of plants.

Chimpanzees' vigilance is combined with greater powers of observation and the ability to discern fine details of objects. Various environmental stimuli attract the attention of chimpanzees and awaken their curiosity in captivity, which I. P. Pavlov repeatedly emphasized when he observed the free behavior of these monkeys and their handling of new objects. In addition, it should be emphasized that for monkeys, to a greater extent than for other mammals, physical properties objects: color, shape, size, density, weight, surface structure, mobility of parts, while in the subject analysis of many other animals, the analysis of chemical properties is of great importance: smell, taste, etc.

The migration of chimpanzees from place to place presupposes the enormous mobility of the animal itself, its great motor activity. Let us recall the chimpanzee’s ability to perform a wide variety of movements: running, walking, galloping, climbing, swinging, hanging, jumping, stomping, tumbling, etc. The chimpanzee’s migration also gives him the opportunity to meet a variety of living forest inhabitants.

Studying the lifestyle of chimpanzees in the wild shows how vigilant and wary they are when moving, avoiding animals and humans that are dangerous to them.

The chimpanzee's lifestyle places particularly high demands on the senses and, therefore, contributes to the development of various analyzers, primarily visual and auditory, signaling danger. On the basis of highly developed sensory differentiations, more complex forms of mental activity of chimpanzees are formed. In this activity, chimpanzee analyzers play a huge role, which we now turn to consider.

In the language of the indigenous people of Africa - the Luba tribe - "chimpanzee" means "human-like." The truth of this statement has been scientifically proven. Scientists have calculated that evolutionary paths chimpanzees and humans diverged just 6 million years ago. And today this is the brightest and most amazing representative of the genus great apes, genetically and biochemically to Homo sapiens the closest. For example, the similarity between our DNA is almost 90%.

Description of chimpanzee

But the “humanity” of chimpanzees is not limited to DNA similarity.

Appearance

Chimpanzees, just like humans, have blood types and individual fingerprints.. They can be distinguished by them - the pattern never repeats. Chimpanzees differ in height from humans. The largest males do not exceed 1.5 meters in height. Females are even lower – 1.3 meters. But at the same time, chimpanzees are very strong physically and have well-developed muscles, which not every Homo sapiens can boast of.

The structure of the skull is distinguished by pronounced brow ridges, a flat nose and a strongly protruding jaw armed with sharp teeth. The skull is made by nature with a reserve - the brain occupies only half of its volume. The front and hind legs of chimpanzees are the same length. An outstanding feature of the structure of their paws is the thumb, which is located at a distance from the rest and allows the monkey to deftly handle small objects.

The entire body of a chimpanzee is covered with fur. Nature made an exception for the face, palms and soles of the monkey’s feet. Adolescent chimpanzees have, among their dark, thick fur, small area white- in the area of ​​the coccyx. As the monkey ages, the hairs darken and turn brown. This feature allows chimpanzees to distinguish children from adults and treat them accordingly. It has been noticed that monkeys with white “islands” on the tailbone get away with a lot, that is, from their paws. Adult primates do not punish them for pranks and do not demand much. But as soon as the white hairs disappear, childhood ends.

Chimpanzee species

Chimpanzees belong to the genus great apes and are related to gorillas and orangutans. There are two types of chimpanzees - the common chimpanzee and the bonobo chimpanzee. Bonobos are often called “pygmy chimpanzees,” which is not entirely true. The bonobo is not a dwarf as such, it’s just that the structure of its body differs from the ordinary chimpanzee in greater grace. Also, this species, the only one of the monkeys, has red lips, like those of humans.

The common chimpanzee has subspecies:

• black-faced or chimpanzee what - distinguished by freckles on the face;
• Western chimpanzee - has a black mask on its face in the shape of a butterfly;
• Schweinfurt - has two distinctive features: a light face, which acquires a dirty tint with age, and longer hair than its relatives.

Character and lifestyle

Chimpanzee is a social animal, lives in groups of up to 20-30 individuals. The group is led by a male in common chimpanzees, and by a female in bonobos. The leader is not always the strongest primate in the group, but he must be the most cunning. He needs to be able to build relationships with his relatives in such a way that they obey him. To do this, he chooses a company of close associates, such as security guards, whom he can rely on in case of danger. The rest of the male competitors are kept in fear of obedience.

When a leader “fails” due to old age or injury, his place is immediately taken by a younger and more promising “commander”. Females in the pack also obey a strict hierarchy. There are female leaders who are in a special position. Males pay increased attention to them, and this secures their chosen status. These chimpanzees get the tastiest morsels and the most a large number of suitors during the mating period.

This is interesting! Bonobos, due to the lack of aggression in their character, resolve all conflicts within the group peacefully - by mating.

Female chimpanzees are considered to be more docile but less intelligent than males when it comes to learning and training. But they express great affection for a person and do not harbor the threat of aggressive disobedience, unlike males, who are “led astray from the righteous path” by the instinct of dominance. Social image life makes it easier for chimpanzees to hunt, protect offspring, and helps to accumulate useful skills in the group. They learn a lot from each other while living together. Scientists have proven that lonely monkeys have reduced overall health indicators. The appetite is worse than that of collective relatives, and the metabolism is slowed down.

Chimpanzees are forest dwellers. They need trees. They build nests on them, find food, and use them to escape, grabbing branches, from the enemy. But, with equal success, these monkeys also move on the ground, using all four paws. Walking upright, on two legs, is not typical for chimpanzees in the natural environment.

It has been noted that chimpanzees are inferior to orangutans in tree-climbing dexterity, but are superior to gorillas in the cleanliness of their nests. The design of chimpanzee nests is not elegant and is made simply - from branches and sticks, assembled together in a chaotic manner. Chimpanzees sleep only in nests, in trees, for safety reasons.

Chimpanzees can swim, but they don't like it. They generally prefer not to get wet unless absolutely necessary. Their main pastime is eating and relaxing. Everything is leisurely and measured. The only thing that breaks life harmony monkeys - the appearance of an enemy. In this case, the chimpanzees raise an incredible cry. Chimpanzees are capable of producing up to 30 types of sounds, but they cannot reproduce human speech, since they “speak” while exhaling, and not while inhaling, like a person. Communication within the group is also facilitated by body language and body posture. There is also facial expressions. Chimpanzees can smile and change their facial expressions.

Chimpanzees are smart animals. These monkeys learn quickly. Living with a person, they easily adopt his manners and habits, sometimes demonstrating amazing results. It is a known fact that a sailor's monkey could handle an anchor and sails and was able to light the stove in the galley and keep the fire going.

Living in a group, chimpanzees successfully exchange their accumulated experience. Young animals learn from mature primates simply by observing and copying their behavior. These monkeys, in their natural habitat, themselves came up with the idea of ​​using sticks and stones as tools for obtaining food, and large leaves plants - like a scoop for water or an umbrella in case of rain, or a fan, or even toilet paper.

Chimpanzees are capable of admiring a flower that does not represent nutritional value, or a close look at a crawling python.

This is interesting! Unlike humans, a chimpanzee will not destroy objects and living beings that are useless and harmless to him; rather, on the contrary. There are cases of chimpanzees feeding turtles. Just!

How long does a chimpanzee live?

In harsh conditions wildlife Chimpanzees rarely live past 50 years. But in the zoo, under human supervision, this monkey was allowed to live up to 60 years.

Range, habitats

Chimpanzees are inhabitants of Central and Western Africa. They choose tropical rainforests and montane forests with plenty of vegetation. Today bonobos can only be found in Central Africa - in wet forests between the Congo and Lualaba rivers.

Populations of common chimpanzees are registered in the territories of: Cameroon, Guinea, Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and a number of other countries in equatorial Africa.