Threats:
Logging
Industrial logging
Industrial logging has both direct and indirect impacts on chimpanzees. Most obviously, for a semi-arboreal species that depends heavily on forested habitats for food and nesting, the chimpanzee’s ecological needs compete directly with the financial interests of logging companies. Chimpanzees lose habitat when trees are felled, while the secondary impacts of logging include road expansion and facilitation of poaching (ibid.). Even selective logging has been linked to negative physiological impacts on the reproductive success of chimpanzees, as preferred food or nesting tree species may be removed and habitat use disrupted.
Artisanal logging
Similar to industrial logging, artisanal logging has negative impacts on chimpanzees, albeit at a smaller scale. Although no large swaths of forest cover are felled, artisanal logging is more likely to target tree species that are key to chimpanzees. For example, several of the nesting species preferred by chimpanzees in Senegal, such as the hardwoods Pterocarpus and Khaya, are sought after by local communities (Massa 2011; Gning et al. 2013). These species are also felled as fodder for domestic animals by nomadic pastoralists, thereby creating a situation where competition is intense at local scales.