CHIMPANZEE
			Phylum: Class: Order: Family: Species: Chordata Mammalia Primates Pongidae Pan troglodytes

The chimpanzee is one of the great apes. Because it is nearest in
intelligence to human beings, it is one of the most studied and popular of
animals. Chimpanzees are the best tool-makers apart from human beings-they
can use sticks to extract honey, ants, and termites from nests; and stones
to crack nuts, or as missiles. They chew up leaves and make them into a
sponge, which is then used to extract water from a hollow in a tree.

Chimpanzees live in tropical rain forests of Africa, ranging from the Niger
basin to Angola. At night, they sleep in nests made of branches and vines
in the trees. They often search for food on the ground. They usually walk
on all fours, although they sometimes run on three legs, leaving one free
to hold food. They can walk upright, with their toes turned outward,
standing 3 to 5 ft. (90 to 152 cm) high. Their hair is long, coarse, and
black, except for a white patch near the rump. The face, ears, hands, and
feet are free of hair.

Chimpanzees live in groups of up to 40 but they often wander away from the
troop on their own. Within a group, males are arranged in a social order,
the inferior ones respecting the superior ones. The members of a group
spend much time grooming themselves or others. Seven hours a day may be
spent on feeding. Fruit, leaves, and roots are the main foods, although it
has been found that some chimpanzees like meat. They have been seen
catching young bushbucks, bush pigs, colobus monkeys, and baboons.

The gestation period is about 230 days and the young depend entirely on
their mothers for two years. Young chimpanzees are playful and friendly,
but they may become ill-tempered in old age.