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Chimpanzees are one of the closest relatives of humanity, they have 98% DNA. It is believed that about 7 million years ago we had a common ancestor. Thus, the development of chimpanzees and humans is very similar, although, unfortunately, chimpanzees have a shorter lifespan than humans.
The average chimpanzee lives to be 15-30 years old in the wild or 30-40 years old in captivity. Babies stay close to their mothers for the first 3-4 years, then gradually move on until they leave their mothers at the age of 10. Reproduction begins when the chimpanzee turns 13-15 years old.
In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the lifespan of chimpanzees, as well as other monkeys, including their lifespan and common causes of death.
How long do chimpanzees live?
Most chimpanzees live to be 30-40 years old. Their individual lifespan varies greatly, and the infant mortality rate, unfortunately, is high in chimpanzees. On the other hand, some chimpanzees live to be 70 years old!
The oldest chimpanzee ever recorded was Little Mom. Although her exact age was unknown, she lived to be 78-84 years old.
Chimpanzees face many threats in the wild and in captivity. Stillbirth is unfortunately common in this species, as are juvenile deaths. For this reason, many researchers choose not to take infant or juvenile mortality into account when determining life expectancy.
Other threats chimpanzees face are poaching, habitat loss, and disease.
Chimpanzee lifespan: captivity versus wildlife
Chimpanzees live longer in captivity than in the wild. A chimpanzee can be expected to live in captivity for 30-40 years, with the oldest captive chimpanzee living to the late seventy or early eighty. Studies have shown that captive females live about 8 years longer than males, with an average age of about 40 years.
Wild chimpanzees live for about 15-30 years – the average varies depending on whether chimpanzees that die before adulthood are excluded.
The oldest wild chimpanzee lived to be 63 years old.
This discrepancy exists due to additional threats that chimpanzees face in the wild. These include deforestation, poaching, war, disease and lack of veterinary care.
Chimpanzee development
Chimpanzees breed all year round, and gestation lasts 202–261 days. On average, a mother chimpanzee gives birth to a child every 5-6 years. Sometimes there is a double pregnancy.
Baby chimpanzees are vulnerable, and many do not survive to adulthood. They are born without the ability to fend for themselves, and for the first six months of life they are carried on the mother’s belly.
Chimpanzees have light brown faces that darken with age. They are not born with a full coat, but they do have a cute white tuft of fur on their back that will fade away as they get older.
When chimpanzee babies reach six months of age, they begin to ride on the mother’s back. Until weaning at the age of 3.5–4.5 years, they will remain close to the mother, deviating very little from her.
After weaning, chimpanzees begin to sleep and play on their own. However, they still depend on their mothers – sometimes up to 10 years old.
Study of 36 wild female chimpanzees in Human Evolution Journal found that they reach puberty at an average of 11.5 years, with a range of 8.9 to 13.9 years. The first pregnancy of a female chimpanzee usually occurs at the age of 13-14 years. Most likely, she will bear children until her death.
What are the most common causes of death in chimpanzees?
1. Loss of habitat
Deforestation results in loss of habitat for chimpanzees, who then face limited resources. Chimpanzees also suffer from human wars, which often destroy and harass their homelands.
2. Poaching
Chimpanzees are hunted for their meat, and young chimpanzees are taken from their habitats for sale in the exotic pet industry. Their mothers and other adults are killed when they try to protect young people, and young chimpanzees are sold to someone with much less opportunity to raise them.
Wild animals are not pets, but unfortunately some people, including some with good intentions, don’t think so.
They may not understand the harsh realities behind how this animal came into their lives, or that they are funding more harm by buying a domestic chimpanzee.
Chimpanzee cubs super adorable, but they don’t stay small, and the average person just doesn’t know how to properly care for them.
They are better off growing up in the community of other chimpanzees.
3. Illness
Diseases such as Ebola have spread among chimpanzees in the wild, causing many deaths. There is a vaccine for chimpanzees against Ebola, but wild chimpanzees do not have access to veterinary care, so they are much more likely to die from the disease than those in captivity.
Another medical condition that chimpanzees face is cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy restricts blood flow. It can also lead to heart failure and is a common cause of death in captive chimpanzees.
Other common diseases that kill chimpanzees include acute myocardial necrosis (blockage of blood flow to the heart), amyloidosis (accumulation of amyloid proteins in organs), and pneumonia.
4. Stillbirth.
Unfortunately, many chimpanzees die before birth. This is called a stillbirth.
Even in accredited zoos, 12% of chimpanzees are born dead. It is also very common in the wild and is something chimpanzee mothers seem to struggle very hard with.
Edinburgh Zoo did have to place warning signs outside the enclosure when the chimpanzee mother refused to give up her dead child, carrying it with her instead.
How does the lifespan of chimpanzees differ from those of other primates?
Let’s start with the primates that most of us think of first – humans!
Of course, humans have a much longer lifespan than chimpanzees. On average, a person lives to be 73 years old. The oldest human who ever lived, Jeanne Calment, was 122 years old when she passed away.
Humans and chimpanzees have 98% of the same genetic makeup, so this is actually a very big difference in lifespan, considering!
Another close relative of chimpanzees is the bonobos. Initially mistaken for the same species, they are now classified as two different animals. Chimpanzees have stronger bodies, and their offspring have fair faces that darken with age.
Bonobos live in captivity for about 40 years, and the lifespan of wild bonobos is unknown.
Looking at gorillas, the oldest gorilla ever lived to be 64 years old. Overall, the oldest known chimpanzee – Little Mama – was probably the second oldest primate after humans!
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