Above: A chimpanzee lying beside a tree in Tanzania's Mahale Mountains National Park

Watching habituated chimpanzees is one of the world’s most thrilling wildlife experiences. Chimps are found in the forests of Equatorial Africa from Tanzania to Gabon, with one of the largest populations being in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The total number has declined precipitously over the past two decades — by 90 percent in the Ivory Coast alone — as a result of deforestation and the construction of logging roads that make it easier for poachers and hunters to access the interior.

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