Social Structure; The Life of a Female

Chimps are a very gregarious species and groups contain multiple males and multiple females.  However, the size of groups may be decreasing due to hunting and the illegal trade in wildlife.  A typical chimpanzee group in Nigeria or Cameroon today may be as small as 4-12 chimps.  Females have their first offspring around 13-14 years of age.  A female's day is spent foraging for food, which takes up about 70% of her waking hours.  During rest and social periods, a female may spend time grooming other chimps in the group and a mother takes particular care of her offspring.  A chimp group is close, and everyone plays with the offspring, males included.