The tailless primates of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia: the gibbons, or lesser apes, and the great apes, which are the orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and, scientifically, humans. The answers here are for the non-human apes; each species has its own page.
This entry covers a whole group, so the answers describe a typical member. For a specific one, see Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Bonobo, Orangutan, Gibbon.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?Omnivore
Dangerous?Can be
Chimpanzees in particular can be dangerous, even to adult humans, when frightened or aggressive.
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inAfrica, Asia
HabitatRainforest, Forest
ColoursBlack, Brown, Red
SizeLarge
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives introops
Lives for30–50 years
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia; gibbons live only in Asia.
- What it eats
- Mostly plants (fruit, leaves, stalks, roots, nuts and seeds), plus some animals.
Did you know
Apes have no tail, which is the quickest way to tell one from a monkey.
Every non-human ape species is threatened with extinction; all orangutans and gorillas are critically endangered.
Ebola has killed at least a third of all gorillas and chimpanzees since 1990.
Often confused with
- Monkey
Apes have no tail. Some tailless monkeys, such as the Barbary "ape", are called apes but are really monkeys.
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