naisho

Experts try to explain chimp’s rampage - TODAY Pets- msnbc.com (video at site)

Experts try to explain pet chimp’s rampage
200-lb. animal shot dead after seriously injuring woman, cornering cop


Why did chimp attack woman?
Feb. 17: A Connecticut woman is seriously injured after a 200-pound pet chimpanzee attacked her. TODAY’s Matt Lauer talks to Capt. Richard Conklin of the Stamford Police Department and Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin about the attack.


By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 7:44 a.m. PT, Tues., Feb. 17, 2009


In the wake of a brutal attack by a pet chimpanzee on a Connecticut woman, people are asking what went wrong. But that, a wildlife expert says, is the wrong question.

“What we should examine is, ‘Should people be keeping chimpanzees at home?’ ” wildlife biologist and Animal Planet TV host Jeff Corwin told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Tuesday.

Corwin was on to talk about chimpanzee behavior after Monday afternoon’s rampage by Travis, a 15-year-old chimpanzee that had been raised as a human since he was 3 days old. Once the star of TV commercials, Travis lived with his owner, Sandra Herold, 70, in her Stamford, Conn., home and was by all accounts totally socialized to living with humans.

The 200-pound chimp was toilet trained, bathed himself, drank wine from stemmed glasses, went for rides around town with Herold, and could even log onto the Internet to look at pictures on her computer.

“This animal was raised literally as a family member,” Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy told NBC News.

Savage attack
But Travis was acting “rambunctious” Monday afternoon. Herold reportedly said she thought it may have been a reaction to medication he was taking for Lyme disease. She gave him some tea with Xanax in it, but the potion failed to calm the animal down. Herold then called a friend well known to Travis to come over to help calm the chimp down.

But when Charla Nash, 55, arrived, Travis savagely attacked her, latching onto her face and refusing to let go. The two women and the chimp were outside at the time of the attack, and Herold ran into the house to get a long butcher knife. She came back and stabbed Travis multiple times. When that didn’t stop the attack, she hit him with a shovel.

Unable to get the chimp off her friend, who was bleeding profusely, she ran back in the house to call 911, according to Stamford police. Police were able to escort EMS technicians to Nash, who was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.


Richard Conklin of the Stamford, Conn., police described serious injuries to the woman attacked by Travis the chimp.

“It was a very serious attack. She suffered a tremendous loss of blood, terrible facial injuries, body injuries and hand injuries,” Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin told reporters.

A policeman shot Travis multiple times when the chimp opened the door to the officer’s cruiser and started attacking him. The mortally wounded chimpanzee retreated to his room in Herold’s house and died.

Highly evolved, but wild
Corwin, speaking via satellite from Boston, told Lauer that we tend to feel great affinity for chimpanzees, which share 98 percent of their DNA with humans. But grown chimps are enormously powerful animals, far stronger than humans of the same size, and they live by their own rules.

“These creatures are wild, and the violence that was exhibited by this chimpanzee is not unknown to wild chimpanzee society,” Corwin said. “Chimpanzees are highly evolved primates, but the truth is, these animals live in very complex societies in Africa. It’s not uncommon … that a chimpanzee will react to another over territoriality — even kill another chimpanzee.”

Although portrayed as peaceful vegetarians, wild chimpanzees do hunt and kill other animals — including human babies — for food.

Corwin said that people can be fooled by the level of sophisticated socialization a chimp raised in human society can show.

“He could have many, many years and many, many moments of great quality and wonderful character — and you have just one bad moment,” he told Lauer.

Previous incidents
Travis had had one other moment. In 2003, while the animal was riding with Herold in an SUV, another motorist threw something through the window at him. Travis jumped out of the car and for the next two hours totally tied up traffic on a busy road while police tried to get him back into the car. At the time, his behavior was described as playful, and he never got violent.


Animal expert Jeff Corwin of Animal Planet said that even though chimpanzees are highly evolved, they are still wild animals.
But the violence exhibited by Travis is not unheard of. In 2005, two chimps in California that were also supposedly tame escaped and severely mauled a man.

Corwin noted that chimpanzees are endangered in their native Africa, and the United States has strict laws governing private ownership. Connecticut now has strict licensing laws regulating ownership, but the laws were passed after Herold acquired Travis and did not apply to her.

Wildlife experts spoke as if it were only a matter of time before Travis snapped.

“They just get too big. They get too strong,” animal trainer Keith Bauer told NBC News. “If you’ve got them at home, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve had them, how much time you’ve put in with them, they’re gonna blow.”



Part 2 of the story in detail
TV chimp was given Xanax for anxiety - TODAY People- msnbc.com (update with details)
Rampaging chimp was given Xanax for anxiety
Owner stabs 200-pound pet with butcher knife after woman badly injured

STAMFORD, Conn. - A 200-pound domesticated chimpanzee that once starred in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola was shot dead by police after a violent rampage that left a friend of its owner badly mauled.Sandra Herold, who owned the 15-year-old chimp named Travis, wrestled with the animal on Monday, stabbed it and hit it with a shovel after it inexplicably attacked her friend Charla Nash, 55.
Earlier that day, the chimp was acting so agitated that Herold gave him the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in some tea, Stamford police Capt. Richard Conkin told reporters.

(more continued at link, cut off to prevent text spam)

Travis the chimpanzee used to star in Old Navy and Coca-Cola TV ads.

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Bottesini

Chimps are very dangerous. There is a famous incident of mauling by chimps in a sanctuary. St. James Davis is the name of the man who lost his face, a foot, an eye and his testicles to a chimp attack in 2005.

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Frisky Feline

Sad news.

i dont feel comfortable around monkey.

naisho

Wow really!! This is the first I have heard of that. But I wasn't around much back then, I was probably too deep into school. What exactly happened? Why'd they do that?

Me neither now, I read that the woman got her hands bitten off and some of her face is messed up. I kept this conception all my life that chimps are nice creatures to live with for pets.

Jiro

not surprising. once a wild, always a wild. The attack happens because the wild animal goes insane if their needs are not met. That's why zoos try their best to recreate 100% identical environment for each species.

btw - biting testicle/fingers/face off is typical chimp attack. They did same to other chimp (invader) in wild because ripping testicle off is the symbol of victory and dominance. I happened to watch some chimp documentary in Animal Planet couple years ago. I was horrified. Chimp Attacks are brutal....

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Jiro

that's because they were a toddler or young one. This chimp in this news are old fart. Like us old farts... they're crazy. Most of chimp attacks (at home) are older chimps.

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Bottesini

Chimpanzee victim St. James Davis v. West Covina

A link to an article about it. They went to visit their former pet chimp for its 39th birthday and when they got out the cake, a couple of male chimps got loose and attacked.

This second link is a picture of St James Davis and I warn it is gruesome.

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/a...68_521494a.jpg

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Steel X

I hate it when they call chimps monkeys as it makes it sound like they are more stupid than monkeys. They are APES. Apes dont have tails, how hard is that to understand, seriously?

Anyway, from what the wildlife expert mentioned, he is pretty much correct. Usually apes as chimps are calm and gentle animals but you will NEVER know they would "snap."

So it's pretty much the same with us humans never know when one day someone would "snap" and then brutally attack you or anything like that. They should've known better than that. Chimps are not good for "pets"...as most animals that grew up in the wild BELONGS to the wild. There is a reason to it.

I'm pretty sure the chimp has a reason for acting that way even thou he may not even tell us why.

Of course, what gets me puzzled is why the woman called 911 first before calling animal control to send someone in to shoot the ape with a dart that gets him to sleep or something? Instead she called 911 and send the cops in who have no experience with animals and decided to use guns to kill the ape which is a total waste of time without even getting the answer to understand why he was like that.

I understand the other woman was seriously attacked, but she should've called the animal control FIRST. Then she can call 911 for medical attention to come.

Anyway it's still a sad story for all of this. At least he is now resting in peace.

It is true that most chimps are physically stronger than humans but Gorialls are obviously the strongest apes there is.

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Babyblue

From what I understand the Chimp was sick. He may have had an adverse reaction to the medication.

I know of a friend of mine that has gotten very violent after the Dr. injected her with Demerol. She had a bad adverse reaction. They had to restrain her. It was not in her nature to be violent.

It could be that...

naisho

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I looked at the story and the photos.. UGH that is crazy to think that a chimp could do this!?

I feel sad looking at St. Davis when I saw his picture. But after reading the article, its like it seemed he got "what was coming for him".

Interesting details.
This basically is showing that owning a monkey isn't as gregarious as one would think..

Steel X

Really...I didnt know chimps would actually "invent" such symbols/achievements such as ripping off a testicle....*shudder* I guess they arent THAT different from us then. lol

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Steel X

Maybe...could be possible.

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naisho

Yeah it seems from the story, the chimp has Lyme disease and some kind of depression or crazy episode/something, and takes that medication listed to cope with it.


Good info, I never realized that there was a distinction between chimp and monkey -- never paid too much attention to that. In terms of chimp vs monkey, then a chimp would be the MR.T to them I'd suppose.

Steel X

*chuckles* a chimp with a mohawk and some ear rings...

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Babyblue

The sick chimp did not want to be bothered. Animals have truly no way of telling us to stop or to leave them alone. So people tend to "keep bothering them" out of goodness or not.

Sick animals have a tendency bite or get violent.

Liebling:-)))

wow, I cannot image of chimps as violence and aggessive...

I hold 2 chimps... both chimps kiss me... they are too adorable... I posted the picture of me with chimps at thread somewhere several years ago.

I read half of the articles, some of you posted. I will read fully tomorrow...
and want to know how and why they do that...



I have to go bed now... Good Night to you all...

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Frisky Feline

I have never been comfortable with monkey since i was a kid. moneky's physicial is too strong! monkey do turns me off because moneky can get its poop and throw at someone.

Babyblue

I remember feeling sorry for this chimp. Due to he was at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa.



This one particular Chimp would Flip people off. The spectators would laugh and flip him back off.

I was disgusted by this.

Shadow

Too dangerous for pets. Zookeepers have lost fingers to chimpanzee.

Cookie Monster

Mistyrose

Why in the dickens would anybody want a freakin
wild animal for a pet?? they are wild animals,
not domestic, period. I hate monkeys, snakes,
any kind of lizards and they are dangerous to be
pets. I kind of blame the lady to have the darn
monkey and treat it like a human child which is pretty
ignorant, crikey!!

These animals, like that monkey belong in Z O O, or
leave them in the wild, period!!

Frisky Feline

ha ha thats cool gif.

Banjo

Actually, they are apes. Not the same thing.

Frisky Feline

True. my mistake, i mean, all kind of apes, gorillas, monkey and chimpanzees that i dont feel comfortable around them. period.

Jiro

because when you're panicking and this woman is being mauled - you remember nothing but "911". Beside do you know the number for animal control? 3 digits vs. 7 digits.

plus - animal control takes a long time to arrive. and yes chimps are not for pet. monkey sure but not chimps because it's equivalent to enslaving a human person. to owner. I'll make him my personal chimp and let's see if he likes it.

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Jiro

lol perhaps I misspoke. It's not really symbol/achievement per se but it's how the males show off who is the alpha male. Sometimes the males (winners) would devour the loser (yea i know.... ugh). The biologists (or whoever they're called) were very very puzzled about this behavior.

all male animals do same. The dog humps other male to establish his dominance. The walrus would have as many as 20 females and will fight to death against other male. so on.

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Babyblue

911 was called due to the woman's life was at risk.


So by the woman calling 911 has nothing to animal itself. She called 911 because her life was in danger.

I also agree about animal control. But the normal animal control is used to dogs and cats. (the usual animal control) Dog pound, SPCA,


Now if it was just an animal out of control and the woman was not injured. Then animal control could have been called first.

Most local animal control do not know how to handle wildlife. Can be done but, the experience may not truly be there unless you are an experienced wildlife control person. (most do not have that)

Steel X

It's strange thou...althou we are beyond evloution from apes and yet apes such as chimps are stronger than us as we are taller, smarter, and...I thought we are also stronger than apes? Who knows...but I've noticed most apes weigh more than we do as we evolve, we tend to lose weight and become lighter than apes for some reason. So I guess with apes that weigh more than we do are part of the reason that they are stronger than we are? who knows.

I have never really heard any stories where a human would "win" a fight against an ape without any weapons. thou it usually turns out that apes "win" the fights against humans instead lol even when we are much more evolved than them. weird eh?

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naisho

I think if it was 1v1 basic hand to hand combat.. Apes would win lol. Apes would wipe out the human chain if we don't have a weapon!

Steel X

Something to understand about chimps.

Chimpanzee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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