Learn About Great Apes

Learn About Great Apes

They are the beings most like us: bonobos, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees. The way we perceive apes determines how we treat them. The way we treat them determines what they become. How they behave influences our perception of them. Over the last several years, a few courageous and brilliant scientists have devoted their lives to studying these amazing creatures. Their scientific studies are consistent and remarkable. Great Apes are thinking, self-aware, intelligent beings. The whole range of this research exploring apes' intelligence, communication, social interaction and cultural expressions is astounding. It must be advanced respectfully, honorably and openly. Before it's too late, we must know these remarkable beings better.

  • Primates

    Primates

    Primates are members of the taxonomic order Primate and have a shared set of physical features. There are approximately 350 species of primate and four categories: prosimians, old world monkeys, new world monkeys and apes.

  • Bonobos

    Bonobos

    Bonobos were identified as a distinct species from chimpanzees in 1933 and were once referred to as pygmy chimpanzees. Females play an integrative role in bonobo society and have equal or superior statuses to males.

  • Orangutans

    Orangutans

    Asia's only great ape, orangutan means “person of the forest” in the Malay language. Scientists have documented that geographically separate orangutan populations show evidence of cultural variation in their behavior.

  • Chimpanzees

    Chimpanzees

    Chimpanzees are found across the central band of Africa. In the wild, they demonstrate the widest variety of tool use and manufacture of non-human great apes. They have a male dominated social structure.

  • Gorillas

    Gorillas

    Gorillas have often been portrayed as vicious and violent. However, studies from the wild and captivity have documented that gorillas are typically shy and avoid confrontations whenever possible unless threatened or provoked.

  • Statistics

    Statistics

    All of the great apes in the wild are endangered due to habitat loss and poaching for bushmeat and the pet trade. Over the past century, the number of apes in the wild declined 80-90 percent while the human population grew 400 percent.

In This Section:
Primates
Bonobos
Orangutans
Chimpanzees
Gorillas
Statistics

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