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Chimpanzee Social Groups

The chimpanzees of Gombe live in a large social group called a community. At Gombe, a community may consist of about 50 chimpanzees of which 6 to 8 are adult males and usually twice as many adult females (12 to 16). The remaining community members are infants, juveniles, and adolescents. Community size is dependent on the availability of seasonal resources such as food.

A chimpanzee community may break up into many smaller groups that continue to change in size and composition (fission-fusion). The most common small group is a mother and her offspring foraging for food. Sometimes two or more females with their offspring meet, eat, rest and play together. Some individuals may leave the community for several days and then return

Captive Chimpanzees
Chimpanzees living in zoos generally live in much smaller groups. Taronga Zoo, located in Mosman, Australia has one of the largest groups of chimpanzees living together. The Taronga group is composed of approximately forty chimpanzees. Like their wild cousins, this chimpanzee community is a mixture of different ages and sexes. They can be seen interacting as a social group in their large varied outdoor enclosure. The group leader of zoo chimpanzees is also called the "alpha male".

Zoo chimpanzees recognize and respond to their keepers. They are trained to enter and exit the out door enclosure and react appropriately to medical and emergency procedures. Keenly aware of the public, zoo chimpanzees often find a favorite spot in the enclosure to view the public and a special place to get away when the crowds become especially bothersome.

The Jane Goodall Institute's ChimpanZoo Program works with zoo staff members and volunteers to study the behavior and health of zoo chimpanzees. The program strives to improve zoo chimpanzees' psychological and physical well-being through information obtained from research and enrichment. The ChimpanZoo program also informs and educates the public about chimpanzee behavior and conservation.