Decreases in wild chimpanzee numbers are attributed to increased commercial hunting, disease transmission (particularly Ebola) and mechanized logging (altering forest structure and facilitating poaching).

Despite central Africa having one of the lowest human population densities of any tropical forest zone in the world, ape populations continue to decline. The four subspecies of chimpanzee face similar threats to varying degrees in different regions. The variation in minimum maximum numbers reflects that much remains unknown about the subspecies, and caution is urged with interpretation of figures. Current population estimates suggest that between 70,000 to 116,500 central chimpanzees remain (Oates et al., 2008). In addition, populations have declined dramatically with Ebola haemorrhagic fever outbreaks and poaching (Tutin et al., 2005). To learn more about their distribution please activate the Pan troglodytes troglodytes range layer in the interactive map.ДЄccurately estimating the total number of central chimpanzees is fraught with difficulty due to methodological issues (many estimates are based on outdated information, and methods used are not always comparable) and the enormous and remote region in which chimpanzees live. ItsвЂ™ range stops at the Congo River in Republic of Congo and itsвЂ™ most eastern range is the Ubangi River that branches off the Congo River (Inskipp, 2005). The southernmost localities are in the Cabinda province of Angola and in the extreme west of DRC. It also occurs fairly widely in the Kouilou Basin in southern Republic of Congo and near the border with DRC. To the south, the subspecies also occurs in two areas of Equatorial Guinea, and is widespread throughout Gabon and the northern part of Republic of Congo. ItsвЂ™ range extends east into the western part of the CAR where it is largely confined to the extreme southwest.

More specifically the central chimpanzee occurs widely in southern Cameroon south of the Sanaga River. It has a range that includes the following countries: Angola (Cabinda), Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Guinea and Gabon (Tutin et al., 2008). Pan troglodytes troglodytes is one of four recognized subspecies of the common (or robust) chimpanzee. It is also listed on Appendix I of CITES. Human use of their rainforest habitat includes farming, logging and mining.The central chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes troglodytes) is classified as Endangered (EN A4cd) on the IUCN Red List 2008 (Tutin et al., 2008) indicating that it has a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. Chimpanzees will eat any animal smaller than themselves from insects to frogs, birds and small monkeys and can use simple tools to access hard to get food.Д¬himpanzees are under threat from hunting for bush meat, the pet trade and are able to catch human diseases. The males will also form organised hunting parties to hunt for meat. They forage in family groups for most of the day collecting a huge variety of leaves, fruit, flowers and pith. Juveniles are independent at the age of four and sexually mature at six to eight years old. Babies completely rely on their mother for two years, until they start interacting with the rest of the group. The dominant male will mate every fertile female in the group, but there will also be sneaky matings between other ind ividuals when he is not around. Chimpanzees are very social and have a complicated range of communication types, including: hoots, pants, screams, body language, grooming and facial expressions! Females move to another group when they mature. There is a strict hierarchy and male-male bonds are a very important part of this, because males stay in their birth group. Chimps live in groups controlled by one dominant male.

Chimpanzee scientific name