The chimpanzees’ eating habits also closely resemble those of the early human hunter-gatherers.Ĥ5 Humans and chimpanzees are the only members of the Great Ape family that hunt and eat meat on a regular basis. This is comparable to the quantity of meat eaten by modern human societies whose members forage when other food sources are scarce. During the height of the dry season, the estimated meat intake is about 65 grams of meat per dayĤ0 for adult chimpanzees. Consequently, chimpanzees supplement their diets with meat. During the dry season, food shortages in the forest cause the chimpanzees’ body weight to drop. August and September appear to be the most popularģ5 months for hunting. Studies show that chimpanzees do most of their hunting in the dry season. This is substantially less than the quantity of meat consumed by the average human. In fact,ģ0 meat composes only about 3 percent of the chimpanzee diet. Despite these findings, scientists still maintain that chimpanzees are mostly fruit-eating creatures. In oneĢ5 notable study, the red colobus monkey accounted for more than 80 percent of the animals eaten by one group of chimpanzees. The red colobus monkey is one of the most important animals in the chimpanzees’ diet. Among the chimpanzees’ favorite prey are the red colobus monkey, feral pig, and various small antelope species. Individual chimpanzees have beenĢ0 known to hunt and eat more than 150 small animals each year. In fact, Goodall discovered that chimpanzees are actually very proficient hunters. It was Goodall who first reported that meat was a natural part of the chimpanzee diet. Before the 1960s,ġ5 scientists believed that chimpanzees were strict vegetarians. Jane Goodall began studying chimpanzees in Tanzania. If this is true, humans are more closely related to chimpanzees than to any other animal species. Experts believe that chimpanzees share about 98.5 percent ofġ0 our DNA sequence. Modern humans and chimpanzees are actually very closely related. It is not difficult to determine why studying chimpanzees might be beneficial. Line 5 find clues about our own prehistoric past. To solve this problem, scientists have started examining chimpanzees’ hunting behavior and diet to Scientists know very little about the eating habits of our ancestors who lived over two and a half million years ago. In conclusion, chimpanzees are omnivores animals though the higher percentage of their diet consists of vegetables.NATURAL SCIENCE: The Eating Habits of Related Primates Infant chimpanzees especially the orphaned babies can feed on milk this can be seen at Tchimpounga sanctuary. Chimpanzees have also been seen consuming honey.Ĭhimpanzees in Guinea, West Africa have been observed taking palm wine, the natural sugars in pal nuts ferment with tropical heat creating alcohol beverage that they take by creating vessels out of leaves. Chimpanzees are also seen hunting occasionally for invertebrates like pattas monkeys, yellow baboons, red tailed monkeys, western red colobus monkeys and small antelopes like duikers.Ĭhimpanzees always spend most of their day eating, early in the morning when chimpanzees wake up they always eat a variety of food depending on the availability near them and after midday they start being selective by eating more ripe fruits and leaves that contain a lot of water.Ĭhimpanzees at Gombe national park in Tanzania have been observed eating Apilia mossambicensis plant which helps them to deal with parasites in their digestive systems, chimpanzees consume a lot of figs which is their source of energy. During hunting sessions the whole chimpanzee family always participates by others chasing the monkey, some block the monkey and others ambush it but once he prey has been caught the whole group shares the meat.Ĭhimpanzees sometimes use leaves as bowels for drinking water and they also use stones for breaking hard nuts. Bonobo chimpanzees also love fruits with about 57% of their diet composed of fruits. Chimpanzees are omnivores animals that need a lot of nutrients in their diet that is why they eat up to 100 types of plants on top of supplementing their diets with meat, insects, ants, bird eggs, pith, bark, buds and termites though the always prefer vegetables to other foods.Ĭommon chimpanzees always prefer to eat fruits other than any other diet but in case of no availability they can eat leaves, shoot, stems, flowers, seeds, resin and bark.
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