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Even though they are almost entirely covered with dark hair and make nests in trees each night, chimpanzees are considered the closest living animal relative to human beings. You won’t find a chimp living in your apartment building, or going to your school, however.

But, if you visit Africa, you will find the chimp living in the jungle and wood-covered savanna ranging from Sierra Leone on the West Coast of Africa to Lake Victoria on the East central side of the continent.

Chimps like to eat lots of yummy things. They feed on over 200 different types of leaves and fruit. Honey, ants, bird’s eggs, small mammals and termites also make their mouths water. When one chimpanzee finds a source of food, like a log teeming with termites, he or she will bang on the log, calling out to the other members of the group to hurry up and get lunch!

You can recognize a chimp as an ape that stands up to 5.6 feet high, weighing up to 150 pounds. The chimp’s arms are half as long as its body, and have dark hair and skin. Their faces do not have hair, nor do their feet or hands, and they are much better at walking than orangutans, since their toes are not quite as long as their ape cousins. You’ll also recognize the chimp’s flat nose and protruding jaw. Chimps love to monkey around and are capable of many facial expressions. Young chimps are able to make over 30 vocal noises. But do not be offended if a chimp sticks out its tongue at you, it may be capable of some self-expression, but its brain is only half the size of a human being’s.

Yet, even though the chimp has less brain capacity than a human, it is capable of showing great care and affection for members of its family and tribe. When a female gives birth to a child, she cares for it until it is about 4 years old. This care implies rich intelligence on the part of the chimp. Mother and baby chimps may stay in touch for the duration of their lives. Brainless creatures– like starfish or jellyfish– lay eggs and never think twice about them! So, we know that the longer a mother cares for her young, the more intelligent the offspring is. She is able to teach the baby vocalization, and communication through posture and facial expression. Young chimps may travel with their mothers for up to 10 years of their 40- year life span. Other than this special bond, chimpanzees tend to stay together in loose bands of 2 to 80 chimps in a territory.

Unfortunately, this range is being threatened by the encroachment of human beings. Whereas our cousins, the chimps, used to populate the wild, their very existence has been cut back by loggers and hunters so much that they have been placed on the endangered species list. Don’t monkey around– support wildlife preservation funds to keep our little cousins, the chimpanzees, alive and well.