Apes Diet

Apes are primarily herbivores, meaning their diets consist mainly of plant material, according to the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center. Despite the fact that apes live in many different places across the planet, their diets remain similar throughout the species. With the global decline of the primates, studying the diet and habits of the species will go a long way in helping scientists understand what needs to be done to help protect them.

  1. General Info

    • Apes fall into two categories; great apes and lesser apes. The greatest, most significant difference between the great and lesser apes is their size. The great apes are much larger. The great apes consist of gorillas, bonobos, the chimpanzee and the orangutan. Lesser apes include the hoolock gibbon, the gibbon, crested gibbon, white-cheeked gibbon and the siamang. Despite the size and visual differences, their diets are almost identical, with few exceptions.

    Routine

    • The Wisconsin National Primate Research Center states that apes are active from dawn until dusk. They are most active in the morning and in the evening. Their days usually consist of searching for food in the morning, resting and traveling during mid-day and searching for food again and making nests at night.

    Main Diet

    • Male gorillas can eat as much as 45 pounds of food daily.

      The majority of an ape's diet consists of plant material. When it comes to plants, they eat leaves, stems, branches, bark, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and pith, which is the tissue in the center of a stem or root. Many apes also eat fruit, which can consist of up to 50 percent of their diet in many species. Some apes, like the male Gorilla, can eat up to 45 pounds of food per day, while the female consumes an average of 30 pounds per day.

    Treats

    • Apes are also known to eat insects such as caterpillars and ants, according to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Bonobos in particular are fond of various insect larvae, earthworms and "mbindjos," or caterpillars. Apes will also eat nuts, seeds, flower blossoms and rotten wood.

    Diet Exceptions

    • Apes don't usually prey on other animals, but some are known to eat birds and small mammals such as squirrels if the opportunity presents itself. Chimpanzees form groups to hunt monkeys, but they are the exception in the ape category, and are the only ape species known to aggressively prey on mammals. For others, it is more of an opportunistic, occasional occurrence.