Wildlife
Chimpanzee

With a declining population of between under 300,000 individuals, all four subspecies of chimpanzees are considered endangered. Close relatives of humans, chimpanzees are essential to their environment as, like most great apes, they disperse seeds too large for most other animals.

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

While Congo committed to marine conservation and fisheries management in 2017, creating its 3 first MPAs in 2022, neighboring Gabon has become a model to follow in the region with the creation of 20 marine protected areas (MPAs) covering 26% of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in 2017.

The deep-water substrate of the Mayumba-Conkouati-Douli transboundary complex supports important populations of large pelagic fish and cetaceans, via the biologically rich edge of the continental shelf, to the shallow waters of the continental shelf itself. Regional collaboration is essential to effectively protect the marine wildlife of both countries.

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Pan troglodytes troglodytes

Local names: Mokomboso (Lingala), Sumbu (Bendzele), Seku (Mbangombe), Ngondo (Bomitaba)

  • Chimpanzees are around 150 cm tall, and males weigh between 40 – 60 kg while women weigh between 32 – 47 kg. They are omnivorous and their diet depends on both season and individual preference, most often including fruits and insects.
  • Chimpanzees often use tools when feeding, for example using leaves to mop up water and using sticks to ‘fish’ for termites in termite mounds.
  • Chimpanzees are highly intelligent. They live high in the canopy, in complex social structures that include social hierarchies, friendships, and power struggles. They live in extended family groups of up to 120 individuals, headed by an alpha male. They can cooperate to opportunisticly hunt duikers and other small mammals.
  • Different chimpanzee populations have different behavioral repertoires, and specific behaviors can be culturally transmitted from parents to offspring
CHALLENGES

 

  • Poaching and illegal hunting: Chimpanzees are prized trophies, their severed hands can be valuable within certain societies and beliefs
  • Habitat loss due to logging: it has been proven that chimpanzee’s complex cultures, including the use of tools, are being lost as human disturbance expands
  • Human-borne diseases: chimpanzees are particularly vulnerable because of their genetic proximity. Their slow reproductive rate exacerbates the risk linked to epidemics
  • Monitoring and studying chimpanzees population through regular extensive inventories and continuous studies to gather precise data to best inform policy
  • Supporting a full-chain law enforcement program, including intelligence-led anti-poaching, anti-trafficking and legal follow-up efforts
  • Working with national government and forestry companies to reduce habitat loss through improved landuse planning
  • Enforcing best practices to limit the risk of disease transmission and monitor zoonotic outbreaks
  • Promoting best practice guidelines for reducing the impact of commercial logging on great apes

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