Page 24 - Rwanda

About Chimpanzees

Sharing 98% of our genes, chimpanzees are humanity’s closest living relatives. Pos-
sessing long arms, opposable thumbs, black fur, and bare faces, palms, and soles
– they look and act a great deal like us. Perhaps this is a part of our enduring fasci-
nation with these great apes.

Chimpanzees are highly sociable animals, living in groups of anywhere between 15
and 80 members. Like gorillas, these groups are led by a dominant male. Chimpan-
zees communicate using a complex mixture of body language, hoots, pants, and
barks. They are capable of both bipedal (two legged) or quadruped (knuckle-walk-
ing) movement. They are also capable of moving at great speed over great distances
through the trees, which is the area where they do the majority of their feeding.

Chimpanzees primarily eat fruits and other plants, but are actually omnivores capa-
ble of digesting insects, eggs, meat, and even carrion. Their diet is almost as varied
as the human diet.

Chimpanzees are also one of the few animals in the world to make use of tools, us-
ing sticks and rocks to aid in their pursuit of food. Chimps are well-known for using
sticks to dig out insects they wish to eat, and use rocks to smash open particularly
tough fruits and nuts.

Male chimpanzees can stand up to 1.7 metres tall and weigh approximately 70kgs.
Females tend to be smaller and spend a great deal of their adult lives carrying
around their babies.

Best Time to Visit

While it is possible track chimpanzees throughout the year, the best time to see
them is during the wet season. While the rain tends to make the hike less pleasant,
the abundance of water and food also means that the chimpanzees have to range
much less to find sufficient food.

For this reason, the rainy seasons is the best time to track chimpanzees. Depending
on which country you’re in, the rainy season may vary.

Rwanda: The short wet season is from October to November, while the long wet
season stretches from mid-March through to June.
Uganda: The wet seasons are March – May and September – November.
Congo: North of the equator, the wet season is April to October. South of the equa-
tor, wet season stretches from November to March.

Fitness & Health

It is not possible to predict ahead of time just how long you’ll be hiking before you
encounter a chimpanzee family. Some people spend as little as 40 minutes hiking
before they come across gorillas, while others can spend up to seven hours hiking.

For this reason, it is recommended that all trekkers be in good physical and mental
condition.

Chimpanzees are also susceptible to many of the viruses that affect humans, so you
will not be permitted to go on a chimpanzee trek if you are sick.