The Chimpanzee As Endangered Animals
Of all endangered animals, the chimpanzees are some of the closest animals related to humans. This refers not just to
their physical form, but also their intelligence and emotional disposition. Unfortunately, they are one of the endangered animals whose population is threatened by deforestation and urbanization of their natural habitat.
You can characterize a chimpanzee by his arms which are longer than his legs. His body is short but hairy. The only place where they don’t have hair is on their armpits, the palms of their hands, fingers, and soles. Baby chimpanzees are born with very little hair, pale, and soft skin.
Their eat meat and plants. The most meat they will eat are baby monkeys, although does not happen very often. Most times, they are happy with ants, termites, fruits, flowers, and tree bark. If you can catch a chimpanzee eating or protecting itself, you will notice it likes to use a stick or leaves to soak up drinking water.
The reason they are an endangered animal is because they become main attractions in zoos and sometimes, even as personal “pets.” They are dangerous animals because in spite of their intelligence, their animal instinct can trigger emotional reactions that can be harmful to humans. As pets, they are kept in cages. They are very entertaining to watch. For instance, they can beg for food, hold hands, kiss, pucker their lips and many other different facial expressions. Just watch out when their lips are clenched tight. It’s a clear sign that they are upset and could attack.
Having them in zoos or captivity can extend their life by more than 15 years. They usually live up to an average of only 40 years if they are free. In captivity and with good care, they can live to 60 years old.
The third reason for being an endangered animal is because the female chimpanzees cannot birth more than one baby at a time. They can get pregnant as early as 12 years old, but if they are living in the wild and have a 9 month pregnancy term, it means this female will only birth to 28 babies maximum. This is assuming she gets pregnant once a year. In most cases, they never reach anywhere close to 28 babies. One reason for this is because a baby chimpanzee stays with its mother for the first 7 years. Currently, the estimated population is less than 200,000 worldwide.
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