The most widely distributed of all the great apes species, chimpanzees are found in the forests and savannas of central Africa. They have opposable thumbs and toes and can manipulate objects with both their hands and feet. Chimps are also well known for their use of tools – using stones to crack nuts, fishing for ants or termites, and sharpening sticks to hunt with.

Chimpanzee troops can be made up of anywhere from 5 to 80 individuals, but are dominated by an alpha male. Males will form hunting parties and patrol groups. Females usually form nursery groups to care for the young. They will all forage together for most of their food, including nuts, fruits seeds, insects and leaves.

Highly social and complex, chimps communicate using hand gestures, body posture, facial expressions and sounds. Vocalizations are very important and they have about a dozen different sounds that they can put together in “sentences.” The most common call is the pant hoot, which can be heard over a mile away and communicates information over long distances to members of the troop. They will grunt when waiting for food or to communicate to the others that food has been found. Chimps make threat barks to warn others to back off and they alarm call to alert the entire troop to a threat.