Chimpanzees
Pan troglodytes
Chimpanzees are the mammal most like humans and their playful antics highlight their intelligent nature and vibrant personalities. Chimps have a variety of skills that are passed on from generation to generation from fishing for termites and ants, to cracking nuts with rocks and using leaves to build nests.
Seven chimps call Rockhampton their home.
Cassius (or Cassie for short), one of our male chimps, was born in Coolangatta in 1971 and moved to Rockhampton Zoo in 1986. In 2012 he was joined by females Holly and Samantha who came to Rockhampton as part of the Australian Species Management Program. We were then fortunate to welcome another male and female, Alon and Leaky in September 2015 from the Rahmet Gan Safari Park in Israel. In February 2018, Alon and Leakey brought new life to the zoo when baby Capri was born. Dubbed the darling daughter of Rockhampton Zoo, Capri adores her chimpanzee family, the zoo keepers and of course visitors coming to see her. In 2020 we were blessed to have another chimpanzee baby born at the Zoo. On February 3, Holly gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, named Gandali.
Head to the enclosure at 2:30pm for a keeper talk with our beloved chimpanzees.
| Distribution and habitat |
Across 21 African countries in dense tropical rainforests |
| Conservation status* |
Endangered species |
| Population |
Roughly 100,000 remain in the wild |
| Diet |
Leaves, fruit, nuts, roots, seeds, insects and occasionally meat. |
* Classified by IUCN
Baby Capri and mum Leakey 
The oldest member of the family, Cassius
The beautiful brown eyed Samantha
Our youngest male, Alon