could people have once been chimps, chimps been humans.

If people think that they might have been chimps once, why do they kill/torment chimps, and distroy their homes!! It makes me sick just thinking about it!!!!!

Amanda, Thank you for your question. Here is a response from Erica Metelovski from Chimpanzoo:

Thank you for the very interesting question you have brought up. One theory that may help explain this behavior suggests that chimpanzees and humans shared a common ancestor about 5 million years ago. This theory (evolution)
is based on fossils found in the earth. This ancestor probably had some characteristics that were chimpanzee-like and some that were human-like.
If you have ever watched a chimpanzee at the zoo you have probably noticed the similarities between them and ourselves. Not only do chimpanzees exhibit behaviors similar to us (mothers caring for their young, infants playing
rough and tumble, etc.), but they share the same emotions (happiness when greeting a friend, grief over the loss of a close relative, etc.). It is
these similarities that fascinates us, but also contributes to their endangered status. Because chimpanzees are so close to us anatomically,
chimpanzees have been used for biomedical research as surrogates for many years. Fortunately, caring people like yourself have helped stop most of the medical experimentation on chimpanzees. Today, most of these
chimpanzees have been retired to sanctuaries where they can live their lives out in a more natural environment with other chimpanzees.

Other people think it would be "fun" to have a young chimpanzee as a pet and treat them
as children. Though they may love the chimpanzee and wish the best for him, they often do not realize that this type of situation is not in the best interest of the chimpanzee. Often, a mother chimpanzee is shot and the infant taken and sold into the pet trade. The young chimpanzee is also
taken away from its natural environment where it can climb trees and play and learn from other chimpanzees. Worse, as the chimpanzee grows older, they become very strong and the owner is often forced to give him away when
they become unmanageable.

Perhaps the largest threat to chimpanzees living in the wild is the logging trade. When people cut down trees in the forest, they not only destroy the chimpanzees' living space, but they build roads that make it easier for hunters to come in and kill chimpanzees forbushmeat. As people become more educated about chimpanzees' likeness to us, we are hopeful that cruel treatment of chimpanzees will end. In the
meantime, the Jane Goodall Institute and other organizations world-wide are working to support the protection of these amazing creatures through
education and conservation.