APES

Suppose you want to dig some insects out of a tree trunk. Your fingers are too short to reach the bugs. What should
you do? You could make a tool. You could find a stick and sharpen it to a point. You could use the point to spear the
insects. This is a good idea, but someone else thought of it first. Apes use sharp sticks to dig out insects. Apes are so
smart that they have learned to make simple tools.

WHAT DO APES LOOK LIKE?

Apes are a kind of animal called a primate. Humans and monkeys are also primates. Apes are covered with fur.
They have two arms and two legs, and their arms are usually longer than their legs. Monkeys have tails, but apes do
not.

Zoologists (scientists who study animals) divide apes into two groups called the great apes and the gibbons.
Gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and bonobos are great apes. Gorillas are the biggest apes. Gorillas grow to be
about 6 feet (about 1.8 meters) tall.

WHERE DO APES LIVE?

Apes live in warm places. Gorillas live in Africa. Most gorillas live in Africa’s tropical forests. Mountain gorillas live
on cool, misty mountains in Africa. Chimpanzees and bonobos also live in African forests. Some chimpanzees live on
savannas (plains). Gibbons and orangutans live in rain forests in Southeast Asia.

Gibbons live in trees. They use their arms to swing from branch to branch. By swinging through the trees, a gibbon
can move faster than you could run. Great apes can also climb trees. Apes have thumbs. They use their fingers and
thumbs to grab tree limbs. Gorillas and chimpanzees spend a lot of time on the ground. They use their long arms
and their legs to walk.

WHAT DO APES EAT?

Gorillas and gibbons only eat plants. Orangutans eat plants and insects. Bonobos love fruit, but they also eat other
plants and some animals. Chimpanzees eat many kinds of plants and animals. Bands of chimpanzees often hunt
together.

ARE APES ENDANGERED?

Apes in some places are endangered. Forest fires in Southeast Asia killed thousands of orangutans in the late
1990s. Other apes are losing their forest homes. People are cutting down the rain forest for farms and houses.
The mountain gorilla is the most endangered ape. There are only a few hundred mountain gorillas left. Scientists
are afraid that these animals might become extinct (die out).

Apes
Apes are mammals that look and sometimes act like humans. They include orangutans, pictured here, chimpanzees,
gorillas, and gibbons. Apes are sometimes confused with monkeys. But apes are larger than monkeys and do not
have tails. Their arms are also usually longer than their legs.

Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest of the apes. They live in the rain forests and mountains of tropical Africa. Unless attacked,
gorillas are timid and peaceful.

Chimpanzee
Chimpanzees are a type of ape that are closely related to humans. They live in Africa. Chimpanzees are very
intelligent and are good at problem solving and using simple tools.

Gibbon
Gibbons live in the forests of India and Indonesia. They spend most of their lives in treetops. They move swiftly
through the forest by swinging from branch to branch.