About 6 million years ago the forests of Africa were shrinking. After a while there probably were too many apes for the resources. Some, probably the less capable got squeezed to the edges of the forest, the low-rent real estate.
They had to figure out how to make a living on the edges of the savanna, while the top dogs were still living high on the hog in the forests. Pretty soon, the two groups diverged, one adapting to the new environments they had been forced into, the other still living in the forests and changing little.
Over time the savanna group evolved into a different species, then into a different genus. The forest group changed little.
That is why there are still apes.
It is the same answer for many Americans, those of European descent. You could ask, Why are there still Europeans? But that would be pretty silly, right?
Could you point out some case in history where a living ape was confused for a living human or vise versa? That is to say, where one of these species was in a transitional state? This would help somewhat in substantiating what so far appears to be a "just so story." Or do you have only pictures of bone heads to make your point?
There you go again with Africa.
If you love the continent so much, why don't you go there and stay there?