Chimpanzee
Pan troglodytes
At Edinburgh Zoo, we have a troop of chimpanzees. You an find out more about them on our Meet The Chimps page.
Masindi is our youngest chimp and was born on 3 February 2020. She and her brother Velu are very special because they are pure Western chimpanzees. This is a critically endangered subspecies of chimpanzee.
Chimpanzees are great apes from central and West Africa. They live in tropical forests, savannahs and woodlands.
They are our closest living relatives - they share about 98–99% of our DNA!
Chimpanzees are very social and smart. They use tools, like sticks to fish for termites, leaves to scoop water, and stones to crack nuts. They communicate using sounds and facial expressions, and hand gestures. They can show empathy, cooperate with each other and solve problems.
They are omnivores, eating fruits, leaves, seeds, insects, and sometimes small animals.
Chimpanzees are endangered because of habitat loss, hunting and disease. Conservation efforts aim to protect forests and reduce conflict between humans and chimpanzees.
Population
Decreasing
Diet
Omnivore
Habitat
Rainforest
Fact file
Chimpanzees give birth roughly once every five years
Latest chimpanzee news
View all news
19 Jan 2026
Five minute read
03 Feb 2025
One minute read
12 Apr 2024
Four minute read
Visiting Budongo Trail
Budongo Trail is one of the world's most innovative and interactive chimpanzee enclosures.
• The outdoor area boasts a huge climbing frame and plenty of vegetation with great opportunities for fun, foraging and exercise
• The indoor rooms, or ‘pods’, have different environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and lighting, so each chimp can choose their preferred hangout
• The enclosure is designed to stimulate the chimps to use and show natural physical, social and mental behaviours that would be observed in the wild
Saving chimpanzees in Uganda
Wild populations of chimpanzees are in decline due to habitat loss, poaching and disease. Since 2005, we've partnered with the Budongo Conservation Field Station (BCFS) in Uganda to protect the Budongo Forest and the chimpanzees who call it home.
Find out more about our work with Budongo Conservation Field StationBudongo Research Unit
Edinburgh Zoo is home to the Budongo Research Unit (BRU), a cutting-edge research centre in partnership with the University of St Andrews, which aims to advance scientific knowledge on chimpanzee cognition and behaviour.
The research at the BRU is interactive and entirely voluntary. Chimpanzees are presented with objects, such as a puzzle box or images on a monitor or computer screen and they learn to manipulate, touch or watch the stimuli. Researchers observe and record their behaviour in non-invasive ways using video, eye-tracking technology, computerised recording, touch-sensitive screens and thermal imaging. Using these technologies combined with more traditional methods, researchers can gain valuable insight into how chimpanzees think, learn, communicate and see their physical and social world around them.
