Western chimpanzees are famous for their cleverness. They use sticks to fish termites out of mounds, rocks to crack open nuts, and leaves as sponges to soak up water for drinking. Different communities have developed different tool-using traditions — a bit like how different human communities have different customs — and young chimps learn these skills by watching older members of their group.
A chimpanzee community can have anywhere from 20 to 150 members, and they spend their days travelling through the forest together, foraging for fruits, leaves, seeds and occasionally insects. They sleep in nests they build fresh each night high in the trees, bending and weaving branches into a comfortable platform.
Sierra Leone is one of the most important countries for western chimpanzee conservation. Sanctuaries like Tacugama and protected areas like Tiwai Island provide safe homes for chimps, and community programmes help local people and chimpanzees live alongside each other. The western chimpanzee is classified as endangered, which makes protecting Sierra Leone's forests more important than ever.