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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.

Six 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.

Head to the enclosure at 3pm for a keeper talk and animal feeding 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.