This further is in line with the active and possibly co-dominant role female western chimpanzees play in their communities. Female western chimpanzees also can rebuff the unwanted advances of males and select males to breed with on their own terms. Among the Tai forest community, infants are often adopted by unrelated adults, with both sexes adopting infants in equal measure. Male West African chimpanzees generally are respectful of females and do not forcibly confiscate food from them, which may at least partly stem from the gregarious females forming alliances. There are even cases of solitary male western chimpanzees, while in any other population, a chimpanzee couldn't survive alone.

In the wild, meat makes up less than 2 of their diet. The list of food items is long: fruits, roots, nuts, leaves, plants, flowers, insects, meat and more. Paternity tests indicate males frequently mate with females from several different communities, siring infants from them. That means in the wild they eat all sorts of produce as well as some animals but are particularly fond of fruits. While it was traditionally accepted that only female chimpanzees immigrate and males remain in their natal troop for life, Western Chimpanzees uniquely exhibit female and male immigration between groups, suggesting males are less territorial and more willing to accept unfamiliar males.

Female West African chimpanzees have been observed hunting and accompany males on territorial patrols, playing a more important role in social dynamics than other chimpanzee subspecies. They also submerge themselves in water and play in it to stay cool in the oppressive heat.įemale west African chimpanzees are quite gregarious and often support one another in conflicts with males, resulting in a more gender-balanced hierarchy than that of the rigidly patriarchal east african chimpanzees. They make wooden spears to hunt other primates, use caves as homes, share plant foods with each other, and travel and forage during the night. Western chimpanzees engage in an unusual rock-throwing behaviour, throwing large rocks into hollow tree stumps or just against trees, presumably as some sort of primitive ritual or perhaps an early form of competitive sport.

In fact, their behaviour is so diverged from that of their fellow subspecies of chimpanzee that it has been proposed West African chimpanzees may be a distinct species in their own right. Some ants climb up the ant rod and then get slurped off by the chimpanzee.Western chimpanzees have unique behaviors never observed in any of the other subspecies of the chimpanzee. They take a stick, break it off at the right length, and hold this ant rod in the ant nest. To eat ants, chimpanzees use another tool. The nut is placed upon a firm surface such as the root of a tree, and the nut is broken open with the stone or branch. For example, nuts are opened with stones or branches which are used like a hammer and anvil. The diet of the chimpanzee is very varied, comprising fruits, roots, nuts, leaves, plants, flowers, insects and a small amount of meat, normally derived from other primates which they occasionally hunt. McGrew WC, Baldwin PJ & Tutin CEG (1988) Diet of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Mt. Some fruits are chewed to form little balls, called ‘wadges’ that the chimpanzees then dip into water before sucking out the juice.įor other foods tools are used. Chimpanzees can live to be 50 years old in the wild. Some foods must be prepared before they are eaten. Food itemĬalculé par Goodall (1986) Chimpanzees of Gombe, page 233

The list of food items is long: fruits, nuts, leaves, plants, mushrooms, flowers, insects, meat and more. The prevalence and pattern of periodontal and periapical dental abscess lesions are examined in 399 wild caught chimpanzee mandibles and maxillae from museum contexts (138. That means they eat all sorts of vegetarian food as well as animals. This is consistent with past studies reporting chimpanzees to have a broad diet (Wrangham, 1977, Tutin et al., 1991, Newton-Fisher, 1999).

Chimpanzee diet in wild