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How do chimpanzees move through trees?

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A common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) sits on a rock holding a long blade of grass in its mouth, with dense green foliage in the background. — chimpanzee The West African, or masked, chimpanzee (*Pan troglodytes verus*) is a critically endangered subspecies of chimpanzee.

Chimpanzees move through the trees by using their hands and feet to navigate the canopy skillfully. While they are primarily known for their terrestrial knuckle-walking, they are highly capable in arboreal environments, where they frequently climb, leap, and swing from branch to branch.12

This swinging movement is known as brachiation, a form of locomotion performed using the forelimbs. Although chimpanzees are not considered "true" brachiators in the same specialized sense as gibbons, they use this method skillfully to traverse gaps between branches. Their movement patterns are flexible and often depend on the specific environmental circumstances, allowing them to adapt their gait as needed while feeding or traveling through the trees.3241