Thank the deity of your choice that last Sunday, the HBO docuseries, “Chimp Crazy,” wrapped its four-part run.
It was another exploitive example of people who collect, treat like children and hide illegal animals in their homes — in this case nonhuman primates. Any docuseries about wild animals kept as pets is a mess looking for a flat rock to splat on.
Oh, of course those who produce such things argue that they are informative, letting people make up their own minds. Perhaps that is true for some people, but most watch to see the craziness and chaos, not to learn anything. Most such things are classed as “reality” television and focus on the most dangerous primate, maladjusted, unstable people, and their affairs. Ratings are dollars.
The market for such things is enormous because people love to see inside other people’s business. In this case, though, there is another victim: the animal involved.
Exploiting chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates has happened ever since they were first discovered. Old black-and-white film and television shows loved to have a chimp in a smoking jacket puffing away on a pipe or cigar. After the shot was done, the so-called “handlers” often took them backstage using the most brutal control equipment and restraint holds.
Those who have tried to obtain and rehabilitate animals used in such ways often were horribly surprised. What they get are animals that have honed their skills to attack and maim people.
Let’s understand here that nonhuman primates weighing more than 5 pounds can be very dangerous. In the research setting, policies often require at least four people to handle the ones that are even this small.
Considering, say, a 70- to 200-pound male chimpanzee, and danger increases exponentially. Chimps have done things like bite and rip the faces off people in a matter of seconds. One such instance involved a chimp named Moe.
Moe was once owned by a famous racecar driver and his wife, only to be seized by law enforcement in California and placed in a sanctuary. In 2005, St. James Davis and his wife, LaDonna, went to visit Moe in his new home.
Before they realized it, two younger male chimpanzees named Buddy and Ollie, escaped their enclosures and attacked the couple. LaDonna got off relatively easy; only her thumb was bitten and then yanked from her hand before she was pushed to safety under a picnic table by her husband.
St. James got the worst of it. Both chimp escapees attacked him simultaneously. Before Buddy got too far along, a sanctuary employee had retrieved a .45 caliber revolver and shot Buddy in the head. Ollie meanwhile dragged St. James down a ravine and continued the savage attack.
The pair bit or pulled off most of the uninsured St. James’ fingers, his left foot, most of his buttocks, both testicles, part of his torso and parts of his face including his nose and lips. He spent six months in a hospital, a large part of which he was in a coma.
In the next four years, St. James underwent more than 60 surgeries. In addition to massive scarring, his face was left with one prosthetic eye and two slits where his nose used to be.
Also, in 2009, in Stamford, Conn., a 200-pound pet chimpanzee attacked his owner’s friend. She lost her hands, eyes, nose and part of her cheekbone.
There are numerous cases as horrific or worse coming from Uganda and Tanzania. At least six cases of chimpanzees snatching and eating human babies have been documented by National Geographic.
Powell, of Pullman, retired as public information officer for Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Pullman. This column reflects his thoughts and no longer represents WSU. He may be contacted at charliepowell74@gmail.com.
