WOW! So I've just been doing some researching on chimps... yes... chimps. I got started when I saw a video clip of baby Nori eating her meal out of a bowl... with a spoon. They're so human! So here's some chimp facts I've discovered.
-Chimps have 98% of the same DNA as humans. I'm sure it's closer depending on some humans.
-They have an average life span of 45 years - that's pretty old! Not compared to turtles, but pretty long!
-They're omnivores, and like humans, they have an extremely varied diet.
-They use tools! They've been seen using rocks to open fruits and nuts, and sticks to get grubs and other insects out of their nests.
The most fascinating thing, though, is a discovery made around 2007 [I'm not positive that this was when they were observed, but the article was written in 2007] that chimps in the West African savannah were fashioning pencil-like tools and using them in a manner that suggested that they were learning basic writing skills!
"In one case, after using the pencil to make repeated marks on a leaf, the female chimp handed the leaf to a nearby male, who looked at it briefly, then scurried off as though on an errand of some kind." - Language Log
Sadly, chimps are similar to humans in violence as well. It was reported by the Washington post in 2007 that chimps had been observed making weapons for hunting! They were seen sharpening sticks, and then jabbing them into the hollows in trees where bush-babies sleep during the day. In the event that they stabbed a bush-baby they would pull it out and om nom nom: lunch.
Far from finding this horribly disturbing, I find it so amazing! It's fascinating that there is an animal that is supposedly "wild" that is so close to us in behaviour and genetic makeup!
