Murderous Chimpanzee

Ya know, I was just thinking it had been a while since I'd heard anything about a murderous chimpanzee. Thanks for sharing this - and perfect timing for me to be reading this just before I get ready to (try to) sleep.

Why do you think the chimpanzee was getting aggressive OP? I would give you a hint, but I don't think it would sink in with you.

You haven't heard nothing R1 until you heard about the murderous frogs.

Was that the woman who was on Oprah?

The woman was a recipient of one of the early full face transplants.

Frightening

They should breed chimps to be minature size. Normal ones are too big.

Worse than pitbulls.

They should require someone to have a brain before they post here. I'm looking at you R7.

I don't see what the big deal is here.

The chimp was clearly confused by the situation that day, saw the woman with his favorite toy "tickle me elmo" and then went a little crazy. Then his mother stabbed him and he got shot by the police and ran back into the house and died next to his cage. Honestly, this is incredibly sad and I'm kind of tearing up thinking about what he when through. I'm sad for the woman too, obviously, but the chimp just didn't/couldn't understand what was happening or why the people were acting like they were and he died for it, and died trying to get to the one place he felt safe in.

Asshole monkey. Probably voted for Trump.

[quote] I'm sad for the woman too, obviously, but

"but"?

The woman had her face eaten off, including her eyes.

[italic] "but"???[/italic]

I agree R11 - very disturbing, and how sad for the chimpanzee (and the neighbor woman)

I was fascinated when this happened. That chimp was not a baby, he was at the stage of development of an adolescent, hormone issues you know. The owner was wacko. She took bubble baths with the chimp and slept in the same bed. There were photos of her sharing a glass of champagne with him, I believe. I am sure lines were crossed there. The woman who was attacked was not unknown to him. She had visited many times.

I read at the time, that people who keep chimps for pets have to keep them caged in enclosure once they reach a certain age. They can become very aggressive.

Account in local paper

The stuff nightmares are made of

Pittie owners and chimp owners should get together.

Likes why Michael Jackson got rid of Bubbles. It was becoming to aggressive. R9-I thought R7's comment was hysterial.

This happened in Stamford CT and after the incident, laws were put in place banning humans from keeping chimpanzees as pets in the state of CT.

If the woman who owned him had done any research on chimps and cross fostering ( which was very popular in academic ethologist and animal behavior circles in the 60s and 70s - think Nim Chimpsky and Washoe, et al.)- she never would have chosen a chimp as a pet or companion or whatever the fuck she thought of him.

Those early studies showed, without a doubt, that once a chimp reaches adolescence - even when they are reared in a home environment - they become highly and innately aggressive AND unpredictable. Thus, the movement away from cross fostering and the transfer of these chimps into preserves where they can live amongst other chimpanzees occurred in the 80s.

Anyone who thinks a chimp is a cute pet is an idiot.

I have seen the weird hippy home - kind of a dump by Fairfield County standards - where this occurred. The single female owner was quite an odd one. Maybe she fancied herself a Frau with her great ape of a " husband".

She should have been sued by the victim - her long time friend.

R21 the neighbor did sue her

Her friend sued her? R22? I didn't realize that.

Good thing. She is blind for life now.

The stupid owner laced Travis's tea with Xanax the morning of the attacks.

People say it with me, we don’t keep wild animals as pets, period!

[QUOTE]Travis had left the house with Sandra Herold's car keys, and Nash came to help get the chimp back in the house; upon seeing Nash holding a Tickle Me Elmo—one of his favorite toys—Travis immediately attacked her. Travis was familiar with Nash, who had also worked at the Herolds' towing company, although Nash had a different hairstyle at the time of the attack, which may have confused and alarmed the chimp.

[QUOTE]Travis' screams can be heard in the background of the tape as Sandra pleaded for police, who initially believed the call to be a hoax, until she started screaming, "He's eating her!"

[QUOTE]Toxicology reports confirmed Sandra's statement that she had given Travis Xanax-laced tea the day of the attack, which could have exacerbated his aggression. Xanax is a short-acting, potent anti-anxiety drug that can cause disinhibition and disorientation and occasionally paradoxical reactions of hallucination, aggression, rage and mania.

Travis, prior to being abused by Sandra Herold, was a happy, refined elder gay.

Wasn't she doing a Norma Desmond and having sex with the monkey?

r21 why? The woman obviously had no problem with it until she got attacked; she couldn't say she thought the animal was a danger all of a sudden. Having a wild animal as a pet is ridiculous, but if this woman was OK with it, why should she be able to turn around and sue? Honestly, if the incident wasn't so horrific, I doubt she would've. Also,

The Xanax angle is over-played. In reality, he could've snapped for any reason, with or without it. That's why the stupid owner gave it to him in the first place.

I realize I sound like a cunt, and I'm not unsympathetic to her injuries, but honestly enablers like this are a huge part of the problem of exotic animal ownership.

[quote]why should she be able to turn around and sue?

I think her insurance company required her to sue.

Are you all new here? We had a classic thread about this at the time. One of the better posts I remember was “Sounds like that monkey needed a spanking .”

Back in the early 40's there were several gorillas that escaped from the San Diego zoo, they ended up killing 28 people in La Jolla. They were on a rampage for several weeks, they found out later they were being drugged with some experimental LSD type drugs.

r29 I've been here for around 15 yrs, and I have no memory of that one.

R31, it was great, typical DL. I’m sure I saved some of the posts, I’ll look for it and post it tomorrow.

R30 you have more info on that incident? I can’t find anything.

From what I remember of the incident the victim was scared of the chimp. I'm not sure if she voiced that concern to the owner or not (forgot that part) but she wasn't comfortable being near Travis.

I thought it was kind of nervy of the mauled lady to sue the state. She had been going over there for years. If she didn’t see the danger, how was the state supposed to?

Here's an article on the lawsuit and her fear of the chimp.

Morgan Fairchilworked with Travis (I kid you not).

^Fairchild^

Apparently nobody here has read The Murders in the Rue Morgue. It should obviously be mandatory reading for monkey-keepers everywhere.

Oh that looks interesting, R39 - had not heard of that!

(even though chimpanzees are technically not monkeys - they're primates)

Chimps are gross

Was there a link at R39?

Years ago I worked as an extra. One shoot I was suppose to walk in with a chimp and be immediately dismissed by the casting director. The joke was they were so desperate for a fresh new face that I thought my pet chimp would get the role.

Working with the animal handler I could the see the chimp was a bit too feisty and I refused to do the scene. The handler got pissed at me telling me the chimp was harmless like a baby. Just as she was saying this the chimp bit her hand and refused to release it.

I walked out and started looking for a regular job the next day.

r42 it's a Edger Allen Poe story, the Murders in the Rue Morgue. Just wiki it!

Then there was this.

Woah woah woah woah woah.

Just a banana-pickin’ minute.

[quote]Travis [...] had also appeared on the Maury Povich Show, The Man Show, and [bold]a television pilot that featured Sheryl Crow and Michael Moore.[/bold]

[QUOTE]Was there a link at R39?

It was a link to chimp bestiality porn. You’re not missing anything. The site was poorly designed and plagued with ads.

He it happened there was a long birch fest thread about it here on the DL

[quote] (even though chimpanzees are technically not monkeys - they're primates)

Er, I hope you meant to say “apes”.

Scientifically, humans are also apes.

In fact, we are a sub-type of chimpanzee, along with common chimpanzees and bonobos. We are an ape. We are a primate. We are a mammal. We are an animal.

Chimpanzees are more closely related to us than they are to gorillas or orangutans.

Yeah!

It was the Michael Moore Show, R46. The pilot had Sheryl Crow, OJ, and a skit with a chimpanzee making stock-market predictions.

It was mentioned in a rather harrowing (MARY!) book about chimpanzees in captivity that I just finished a couple of weeks ago, so I pulled it out again and the Michael Moore chimp was a different one, Kirby, from the same hoarders/breeders who sold Travis to Sandra Herold as a days-old baby.

[quote]There was, as well, a series of star shots: Kenzy with wrestler Hulk Hogan, and with the actor/comedian John Leguizamo; pictures of Mike Casey's favorite chimp son, Kirby, with the singer Sheryl Crow on the now defunct Michael Moore Show.

Suzy, Travis's mother, was shot and killed by a neighbor after she and a couple of others escaped in 2001.

Breeders: Mike Casey and Connie Braun Casey of Missouri Primate Foundation/Chimparty

Book: The Wauchula Woods Accord by Charles Siebert

Remember when it was discovered that Adam Lanza phoned Anarchy Radio to tell the story of Travis the Chimp? Adam called himself "Greg" on the radio and disguised his voice, according to those who knew him. But they could still tell it was his voice. The story obviously held a lot of meaning for Adam, as a kind of parable about child-raising and civilization.

Google Moe the Chimp. Couldn’t find the link. Moe lived with human parents since he was born. A little weird. Treated him like a member of the family.

Local officials and neighbors forced Moe to go to a “sanctuary” and live with his own kind. Parents heartbroken. Visited regularly.

Alas, when they gave him a birthday party there, complete with birthday hats and cake . Other chimps VERY mad . Viciously attacked both of them. Their faces were mangled , etc.

Parents never blamed Moe one bit. Continued to visit him. Article in LA Times . I became a little obsessed . I have a Moe the Chimp file. I know I’m bizarre. In a bizarro world

I worked at Universal Studios tour in the mid-'80s. I was an usher for the live shows in the park, and we often watched show-rehearsals (in empty amphitheater), if we weren't assigned to be elsewhere. It was disturbing to watch some of the Animal Actors Show rehearsals, because how they treated the chimpanzee in the act. The dogs, cats, parrot, falcon...they were all fine. They all performed as they should, and were treated very well by the trainers.

But the chimp was not. I think his name was Ringo? Or Bingo? (something like that). He'd do the little tricks that he was supposed to do, on cue -- like wiping his face, or going "Oooh-ooh-ooh!!" -- leading up to the break-dancing portion of his act. . Shockingly...Ringo was not fond of break-dancing, which they'd "trained" him to do. Sometimes he'd just sit his ass DOWN on the stage & refuse.

On more than one occasion, I saw the head animal trainer take that chimp by the hand, and haul-off like a NFL field-goal kicker....and kick him square in the ass, lifting him off the ground! And of course, "Ringo" would shriek & cry, and turn around aggressively to counter....which would earn him another kick, to the gut. It was AWFUL! They were beating that chimpanzee to make him perform.

r54 JFC That's awful.

That reminded me of the doc on the female elephant who was trained in a circus using abusive methods. It didn't end well. Well, part of it did.

Lol.. R12.. I remember this story. It's very sad all around. It was horrific what that poor woman went through. I feel bad for the chimpanzee, too. People try to domesticize (sp) animals that aren't meant to be a pet. A chimp is very cute when young, then gets big and is very strong. Humans have hubris and stupidity when it comes to animals.

I personally don't understand the appeal of adopting a chimp. It's like LITERALLY and INTENTIONALLY choosing to adopt a child who's BOTH profoundly mentally retarded AND autistic... with all the baggage that goes with it, and more.

And I say that as someone who'd seriously consider raising a cougar, leopard, or jaguar if I could afford to care for one appropriately. The main difference between a housecat and a cougar raised by humans from birth is... about 50-100 pounds. Temperamentally, they're identical(*)

---

(*) Tigers generally view human companions as funny-looking tigers & accept us as equals, but genuinely don't grasp that we aren't *exactly* like them in every way. Lions view their human companions as literal pets. Both can be incredibly affectionate, loving, and tame... but their sheer size & power alone make them dangerous companions... think about how even a loving housecat has an occasional grumpy day or gets scared & lashes out, then scale it up to 500 pounds. The problem isn't that they're "wild", the problem is that they're huge & can physically overpower any human.

Xanax is the key to the whole Travis story.

R57, would you get a lion or tiger if they shrunk them down to housecat size?

Chimpanzees are 3 times stronger than humans.

R52, WOW. I had no idea there was audio of Lanza calling a radio station.

Even while disguising his voice, he sounded like a freak.

OP should watch the documentary Project Nim about another killer chimp.

r59, sure.

The thing that distinguishes "housecats" from small wildcats is amygdala size.. The amygdala influences "skittishness". Big amygdala = nervous, reactive, panicky, high-strung. Small amygdala = mellow, confident, etc. Big cats evolved with generally small amygdalas. Small cats evolved with generally large amygdalas. Thousands of years ago, the ancestors of modern housecats with the smallest amygdalas overcame their nervous fear of humans & became our mutually-beneficial companions. In other words, they self-selectively bred the mellow temperament & confidence that predatory big cats had all along.

SMALL wildcats (ocelots, etc) generally make VERY poor pets, unless you get lucky & end up with one whose amygdala is at the smaller end of the range. Otherwise, they're just nervous, high-strung small cats.

By the same token, a 12th-generation "American" tiger whose family tree goes all the way back to P.T. Barnum IS physiologically different from a random Bengal or Siberian tiger out in "the wild" -- they've been bred for GENERATIONS to favor tame # calm-tempered tigers, long before anyone knew what the 'amygdala' was or does.

A cheetah raised in captivity as a pet would be about as close to a tame 60-lb housecat as you can get. Unfortunately, they're SO endangered, it's illegal to capture one from the wild, 99.6% of captive cheetahs are owned by zoos, and unlike most cats, cheetahs are HARD to breed (basically, they're hyper-monogamous prudes. Most cats are total sluts.)

With laws to enable it and a few generations of genome-guided selective breeding (doing IVF & aborting any fetus that deviates from the desired profile), a "breed" of consistently pet-suitable cougars could be established within 15-25 years. They wouldn't be suitable for families with young children (say, under 12), but they'd be no more dangerous to the public than an average rottweiler. Tame, friendly cougars ALREADY exist... it's just a matter of identifying them, and establishing a breeding pool with enough genetic diversity to be viable.

Leopards & jaguars are similar to cougars, but establishing the initial breeding pool would probably require a few more years since the existing pool of known-tame leopards & jaguars is smaller than the one for cougars.

One interesting hybrid possibility is the 'pumapard' (cougar + leopard or jaguar), because they tend to exhibit dwarfism (about 30-40lb, with "munchkin" legs). Not much is officially known about them, because breeding big-cat hybrids has been extremely frowned-upon by the zookeeping establishment for the past ~100 years. Ligers are frowned upon too, but get bred anyway because they're super-tame and HUGE (== commercially valuable).. Pumapards look more like big munchkin housecats, are kind of skittish (the amygdala problem), and might have as-yet unrecognized long-term health issues, so they're a longer-shot pet-wise than cougars. They'd probably be developed as a breed AFTER cougars, leopards, and jaguars to reduce the number of variables.

Finally, leopards & jaguars are really only different 'species' by historical tradition. In human terms, they're more like different 'races' of 'panther' -- genetically, almost identical. They don't encounter each other in 'the wild' & look a little different on the outside, but can & will interbreed in captivity without problems.

Sorry about the book, but big cats are a passion of mine :-)

Yeah, humans need another deformed house cat breed like munchkins.