| Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Hominidae |
| Genus: | Pan |
| Species: | P. troglodytes |
| Subspecies: | P. t. ellioti |
| Trinomial name | |
| Pan troglodytes ellioti |
|
The Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes vellerosus, now also known as Pan troglodytes ellioti) is a subspecies of the common chimpanzee which inhabits the rainforests along the border of Nigeria and Cameroon. Male Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees can weigh as much as 70 kilos with a body length of up to 1.2 metres. Females are significantly smaller.[1]
The Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee is recognised as the most threatened and least distributed of all the common chimpanzee subspecies, and without a dramatic change to human behaviour in the area, there is a likelihood of extinction in the coming decades.[2] A June 2008 report said the Edumanom Forest Reserve reserve was the last known site for chimpanzees in the Niger Delta.[3]