We prefer to keep things focused on the positive and love sharing the daily lives of the chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. But the fact is that it is a shame our sanctuary has to exist at all. The Cle Elum Seven never should have been used in research or entertainment. Chimpanzees simply do not belong in biomedical research, entertainment or in people’s homes as pets. Period. And yesterday there was evidence for some of the reasons why this is true.
On Monday afternoon in Stamford, Connecticut a 15 year old chimpanzee “pet” named Travis attacked a woman he had known for years, leaving her in critical condition. When the police arrived at the scene, they fatally shot Travis. There are now numerous stories with greater detail about this incident all over the news, including NBC.
Travis was bred in captivity to be used by humans. He reportedly appeared in commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola. His owners drove him around town. And this was not the first time the authorities of Stamford had to be called in to try to contain him.
For those of us who care for chimpanzees, it is difficult not to be angry about this incident. We know that chimpanzees should not be kept as pets – we’ve seen tragedies like this before. We know that chimpanzees should only be kept in secure enclosures. We know that chimpanzees in entertainment are usually discarded after a few years because they become too difficult to “handle.” And we know that chimpanzees are intelligent, social, amazing, and, yes, sometimes violent beings.
There should be laws in place in every state banning the keeping of chimpanzees as pets. Hollywood by choice or by being forced through legislation should never use a chimpanzee in entertainment again. Our hope is that this tragedy will create action to make these things happen, and we will do our part to help.
I’m glad you made a comment about this and stated the organization’s opinion. I was devastated when I heard the news report last night and the outcome of this tragedy. It’s too bad the police did not have the foresight to bring a method that would not have resulted in Travis’ death. To me it seems as though a recalcitrant teenager became angry and aggressive for whatever reason (and as the parent of a teen I can relate) and the woman, in trying to fend off an attack, put Travis in a situation where he had to defend his own life.
I look at a Chimpanzee, or a Bonobo, or a Gorilla and I see a differently evolved human, and knowing how even humans can behave like animals I don’t understand why some humans think of them as pets or commodities. It actually creeps me out – this disregard we have for our closest non-human relatives. This can’t be how we continue to evolve. Only continued education will eventually get people out of this mindset and hopefully Travis, and CSNW, will help humans to open their eyes and really look at these beautiful creatures as a reminder of what we could have become.
I live in New York, and was so sad to hear this story too. The poor chimp, he shouldn’t have been living like that. On the news here it is reported that Travis liked to drink wine….
Have you also heard about a “pet” chimp in Texas named Henry. Really sad story, but he has been rescued and is rehabilitating, the SPCA in Texas is looking for a sanctuary for him to eventually live in.
Diana – thank you for commenting on this. I was sickened this morning when I read the news reports. I also hate that there is a need for places like CSNW, The reality of it truly breaks my heart sometimes, but I am thankful everyday that CSNW is there and for the tremendous and selfless work that you all do. I was a little encouraged anyway, when I saw how many people commented how ridiculous it is that people think any wild animal could be a pet. Hopefully, more people are coming around.
I hope I live long enough to see the day when there are no Chimps living in captivity. They belong where God intended them to be and that is NOTas a research animal or a pet or for our entertainment.
A very tragic story for both the woman who was mauled and especially for the chimp. It’s just as tragic for me in how he lived as how he died.
I hope that out of this tragedy legislation will come about on a federal level to prohibit primates use as pets and for entertainment (aside from the gapa). I feel like that stole this chimps dignity by dressing him and treating him like a child.
This tragedy should not have happened. It is always the animal that loses most. A wild animal who is a “pet” acts within his nature and is killed for it. When the law was passed to make it illegal to own a chimp it is my understanding the woman was allowed to keep Travis because she had him a long time and allowing her to do so was “grandfathered” in. The authorities should have confiscated him and sent him to a sanctuary where he would be with other chimps. He was walked on a lease, dressed up in clothes, potty trained, and who knows what else for the appeasement of the owner. Federal laws need to be passed and chimps kept as pets and for entertainment purposes should be seized and sent to live in sanctuaries where they can be chimps without being killed for what comes natural to them. I hope I live to see that day.
This is so heartbreaking….why in the heck would they not put Travis in his cage when visitors came to the home…the poor baby….he was stabbed with a butcher knife by his owner and beat with a shovel, how can someone do this to a loved one….poor Travis…Rest in Peace sweet boy….you were loved!
I couldn’t agree more with all the comments made here. What a complete tragedy. Diana, thanks so much for your post. All we can do now, is continue to honor Travis’ life by talking about this story with everyone we know – and making SURE that our family, friends and associates better understand the plight of chimpanzee’s in entertainment, medical labs and those kept as “pets”. This is just wrong, and the time to outlaw these practices is overdue. Rest in peace, Travis.
This is just so heartbreaking! From what I have read, it seems possible that he just wanted to go for a ride in the car. I’m sure he was just as sweet as our Burrito, but the humans in this story did him such a disservice by not protecting him. Not to mention the horrible disservice done to him in the first place by using him in entertainment & keeping him as a pet. They should have protected him in a safe, sanctuary setting. He was 15 years old…much too strong and independent to be kept in a home. I’m sure he didn’t have any intention of hurting anyone…his strength was just no match for the women who were trying to control him. It is so upsetting to think about how afraid & confused he must have been. The only thing we can do, as Shelly said, is to talk about his story to help others understand why this tragedy happened. Many people just don’t understand. Hopefully some good will come from this….so that nothing like this ever happens again.
a CNN commentator made a good point about the impossibility of ever truly domesticating a wild animal, no matter how much a person might want it to to be domesticated
I just read Wayne Pacelle’s blog entry on this horrible and very preventable incident. (Wayne is the President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.) Its a great entry.
Here’s the link to his blog if anyone is interested in reading it –
http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2009/02/chimp-attack.html
Waynce Pacelle’s blog entry in excellent. I will pass this along to others. Thank you very much, Jill!
I have been following the story all day on the media. In order for Travis’ life to not have been in vain lets hope his death highlights the abuses of chimps in captivity for human purposes and educates more of the public about these abuses.
We cannot know why he did what he did or what was in his mind. We do know that asking any other primate to live as a human is unrealistic and disrepsectful of who they are.
My heart goes out to Travis, may he be in a better place and to the injured woman as well. May this never happen again…
The saddest part of this whole story is not that Travis was a pet, or how the police reacted, or any other well discussed element. The horror of this tale is that the owner had ZERO plans for any kind of escape or capture…and that is a crime. He obviously had already shown signs of independence after the 2003 incident where he blocked an intersection for over two hours.
Many of us in the Ape community reached out to the owners after that incident and begged her to place the chimp so that Monday’s incident could have been avoided…and they steadfastly refused to give him up. A simple stun gun when he was agitated would have been enough to knock him out and put him in his lockable habitat, which she did have.
My last point is that it’s not the entertainment industry that needs to be stopped, it’s the breeding for private sale of these endangered animals which needs to be halted. Missouri Primate/Chimparty has fed this industry for years, and almost every chimp you see on TV and in films, from Speed Racer to Bridgestone, from Career Builder, to poor Travis, has begun their life in Festus. Now that the Glasses in Dripping Springs, Texas have abandoned their breeding operations, the Chimparty breeding must be halted immediately.
The Casey’s of Festus that own Chimparty are locked in a bitter divorce battle. The time is right to have ape advocates step in and offer the Casey’s a viable alternative to their breeding operations. With the right support, they would be able to be talked into a sanctuary setting in Festus for the 30 plus breeding apes that are there, and this whole ugly chain of events can cease.
One more point – I watched Nightline last night, and would like to commend Judie Harrison for her dedication to her chimps. Here is a woman that had the same love for Mikey and Louie that Travis’s mom had, and unlike most ape owners found it in her to place them when the time was right to do so, so those two beautiful chimps had a happy ending…unlike poor Travis.
I am baffled by anyone wanting to keep a great ape as a “pet.” I’m sure this lady treated her chimp well, but what a twisted life for a sentient wild animal. Having a “pet” chimp is basically having an incredibly strong, emotionally unstable, mentally disabled human as a “pet.” These animals need limited rights to protect them from the objectification that allows them to be pets, non-consenting experimental subjects and life sentence prisoners in zoos.
I hate to say it but I feel no sympathy for the woman who owned Travis. She used him for her purposes all his life without fully appreciating the wild animal he was. As others have written, this is a tragedy that should not have happened.
Time magazine has an excellent piece on chimps as pets —
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1880229,00.html
i HAVE BEEN HEART BROKEN OVER TRAVIS’S DEATH ALL DAY, IT BREAKS MY HEART, HE DIED A VERY PAINFUL , BRUTAL DEATH, AND IT WAS NOT HIS FAULT, HE WAS PROTECTING HIS MAMA,,SO SO SO SAD!
The animal shelters are full of dogs and cats needing homes.
If you want a pet, you get a dog or cat. Chimps are not pets! No wild animal is a pet.
Great point, Terry. Also, if you want a child, do not get a chimpanzee. It seems like Travis was used as a substitute for a child. Chimps are not children. They are wild, majestic great apes and they belong in the forests of Africa.
“But the fact is that it is a shame our sanctuary has to exist at all.”
I always mention this when talking to people about chimpanzees, that sanctuaries shouldn’t have to exist at all..
we must abolish all primates used in biomedical research (they’re poor models, producing inaccurate results, people die) and we must abolish primates used & abused in the Hollywood entertainment industry (or any primate used & abused for any entertainment purposes, ie like private parties, etc.) whom this industry obviously perpetuates these private breeders in this country to provide and produce these babies for that purpose .. Travis was ripped away from his mother at three and a half weeks old, that’s a tragedy in and of itself ..
then when these entertainment people are done with “using” them, some of these chimpanzees and monkeys are sent away, if not into biomedical research then hopefully to a good santuary for example like CSNW, Save The Chimps or Center For Great Apes – then hardworking caring people like us (some of us just scraping by) help foot the bill for their care .. (I’m not saying that we all don’t want to help donate, I’m just saying that after these people are done with them for their selfish reasons, then it becomes someone else’s problem and that’s not right)
he was in such an uncontrollable primal rage that even stabbing him multiple times and hitting him with a shovel couldn’t stop him .. this is very sad and beyond horrifying and a brutal violent tragedy that should’ve never happened..
wild animals belong and should stay in their native land period.
This was a devastating story. I am sad that this woman is in critical condition, but the fact of the matter is that chimps are NOT pets, period, and of COURSE some day he would do what came naturally – act like a chimp instead of a forced human. Makes me so sad that he had to pay with his life for this human’s mistake.
People make bad choices. The poor owner who treated this chimp like her son had to take action to protect her human friend, I also feel for her. What I recently have read is that the injured woman, who was known to Travis, came to help get him back inside. She arrived in a different car, with a new, different hair color and with an Elmo doll which she waived in front of her face. I believe any animal would have been protective. Among animals in captivity I imagine chimps have a low “incident” rate. I pray that lessons will be learned and good policy changes will come from this tragedy. We would all have preferred it to have never happened.
Please show your support for the Captive Primate Safety Act by writing to your state and federal representatives at:
https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2009_primates_pets?qp_source=gaba5n
The president and CEO of the Humane Society of the US wrote an excellent article about this tragedy. The article states that some of the representatives considered the bill a joke and Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, a physician, was instrumental in getting the bill halted last year. For more information go to: http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2009/02/chimp-attack.html
I think Dr/Senator Coburn could use education on chimpanzees and we are just the people to provide him with it. You may write him at: http://coburn.senate.gov/public/
Thank you posting about this. I was saddened by this story and I’m disgusted by the press coverage. This tragedy could be a teachable moment about how wild animals should never be treated like house pets or children. Instead, it’s just another ‘Jerry Springer’-type moment. I’ve been changing channels every time I see a news story about Travis, I found this site while searching for sensible discussion about the incident. When I get home from work today,I’ll make a donation to your sanctuary in honor of Travis and Charla Nash.
Hello CSNW, I just today uploaded a short video on some primates I filmed in Africa. Since we had that recent big news event of a “pet” chimp attack, my video is receiving some attention and was featured on CNN news and is on the front page of their IReport web site today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beUO8LiXDDo
(You Tube version)
I wanted to let you know that I included the web link to your wonderful organization in the videos description, and it is in my hopes that people will look at your informative web site and donate.
Thank you for all you do, and I hope the USDA and other agencies look into just how many loopholes there are in the loose captive wildlfie laws we have. It is easy.. Chimps, Tigers, Bears.. are not pets.
Brian
“Brian’s Art for Animals”
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/briczar22
It has taken sweveral days to finally not be so angry over losing anther beautiful chimp….I don’t understand about people like his so called “owner”…what part of wild do you not understand….I don’t care that you’ve had him since he was 3….he is still a wild animal that belongs in the wild….they should not be in your home kept as a pet, to eat people food, drink wine, take baths, sleep in your bed, ride in a car….you treated him like a human…you go to prison for shooting a human….Travis should never have given his life like this….I am thankful that we have places like, CSNW, Chimp Haven, Gorilla Haven, Chimp Eden for saving abused chimps….if these chimps had gotten to live like they should, these places wouldn’t have to exist….We need to save these animals from the abuse that is dumped upon them….Please write, call your congressman or woman and get the laws passed to help protect their future. It is so sad, that this beautiful animal had to lose his life for being what he was, a wild animal…He is now in Heavens sanctuary…
To honor Travis’ life and to do what we can to ensure these tragedies don’t continue to happen, we can do as others have suggested on the blog….contact our gov’t officials, sign the GAPA petition at:
http://www.releasechimps.org/mission/change-laws/the-great-ape-protection-act/
write to the media, talk to family, friends and professional associates….there are lots of things we can do – so at least we are not helpless here. I’ve found that taking action – any action – to help solve the issue, helps ease my heartache.
I just came across this site, and I must use a post that I have already posted on another–in reply to someone very much distressed about all of this.
I just cannot write it any other way, or make it more obvious.
This is indeed, one of the most tragic stories imaginable.
First for the friend that was called to assist in regaining control over the already agitated animal. She made a terrible mistake, I feel—using the Elmo doll. I believe, that the use of the doll in the attempt to “calm” Travis, was the direct cause of his savage attack upon her.
Now I do not know where the doll came from: if she stopped someware to buy it, or if it belonged to him, and she had taken it from the business where he was also set up to stay;—either way, the horrible mistake of using that doll was the thing that set the already agitated chimp over the edge.
Consider these things:
The animal had the intellectual capacity of a 3 to 4 year child, perhaps more.
He was brought up watching TV as most children are.
What I ask you do most children watch at that age?
Sesame Street of course! So he had indeed seen Elmo before.
Along comes a woman that he did not initially recognize, holding “Elmo”
and most likely squeezing him if it was a doll that made sounds. I have a small version, and when you first squeeze it, it sounds as though he is screaming.
Get the picture. It does not take a great and strenuous working of the mind to realize what really happened.
If by chance the doll was his, well—the answer is obvious. Travis was trying to protect “Elmo”.
When he opened the auto door, and sat next to the police officer, he most likely expected to go for a ride, and did not intend to kill the police officer.
The police officer was though, “entirely justified” in shooting Travis to protect himself from harm.
Travis had garnered enough intelligence, to die confused, wondering why he had been hurt for “protecting Elmo”.
My condolences to all those who had to experience this horror.
There are many lessons to be learned from this, many lessons indeed.
That is what I posted, and I am happy to have found there are others that realize that Travis is not to blame for this horror. I am surprised that the obivious “Elmo” part of the story is simply glossed over on most news accounts and postings; I feel it is the key factor in understanding how all this happened.
**editor’s note: please see J.B.’s post of 2/24/09: https://chimpsnw.org/?p=1376**
I have been a complete ape fan for the past couple of years. I don’t know if you (Diana and J.D.) remember the ape fanatic who you helped back in Ithaca before the chimpanzees arrived to this sanctuary. I really need to listen to the news on a daily basis! I cam to school today to find a large amount of people discussing “That chimp that ate the lady’s face off”. Upon first hearing this, I knew this wasn’t true, due to extensive reading and recently listening to one of my favorite books on audio “Our Inner Ape by Frans De Waal. I tried to do my best to dispel the rumors about chimps being aggressive killing machines, but only was able to get a few people to really listen. I am shocked deeply about this attack. This only serves as another piece of evidence for the general public (and some biased scientists and biologists) that apes are extremely aggressive killers. As others have suggested, we hopefully can overcome this bias by educating others and not acting helpless in this situation. I have no doubt after this, laws will be passed regulating primates as pets. AS A COMMUNITY OF CHIMP LOVERS WE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SITUATION BY EDUCATING OTHERS AND PROPOSING NEW LAWS. Look what education has done to me….the author of this post is only thirteen. I feel extremely sorry for that chimp. I really wish there was a way to control a chimp that is having a bad day. If so, please post.
one more note: Apes are not “killers or “nice”. They display a wide array of emotions just like humans do.
Hi Noah…Travis was just protecting his home and family, the woman that showed up to try and coax him back into the house was a friend but she had changed her appearance, plus the fact that Travis was given a Xanex about 5 monutes before the attack. Just like dogs, chimps protect their territory, like Burrito when someone pulls up the drive he goes to the catwalk to see who is coming, this was not Travis’s fault. I would not say they are killers, they protect their home and their family, that is what I believe travis was doing!
OH MY GOSH WHAT I MENT T SAY IS THAT APES ARE LIKE HUMANS I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I TYPED THAT IN PLEASE, NO ONE GIVE ME ANY HARD FEELINGS. THAT WAS A TOTAL MISTAKE. I NEED TO PROOFREAD MY STUFF
Hi Noah – glad to see you on the blog! By the way, we didn’t help you, you helped the chimps.
Nice to know I know people that know me here! I misread what i said and thought that I wrote in my first post i thought apes were killers. I realize I said just about the opposite
I have missed CSNW. Before I go any further, I want CSNW to know that I am grateful that someone cared enough, and had the ways and means to start this sanctuary. The love, care and support that has been given to these Chimpanzees shows in many ways.
I enjoy reading all the comments from everyone too.
The incident with Travis is sad, it happened at an odd time for me. I am going back 100 years ago+ , and learning how and why the chimpanzees came to the USA.
Yerkes and the Zoo’s were breeding Chimpanzees, and selling them to private individuals, Ringling Brothers, and Berstoni. I was shocked about some of the things I learned, and disgusted…..
From what I have learned about Chimpanzees, Travis was acting like a typical Chimp his age. If he would of been where he belonged, he would of been put in his place by another chimp, or he would of become the next Alpha male. Chimpanzees are chimpanzees, it’s who they are, they have their own ways. They are a beautiful fascinating non human primates, that’s what makes them so special.
The Chimpanzee sanctuaries have steel gates, electric fences between them and the chimps for safety. They understand and know what these Chimpanzees need, and what they are capable of….
Please contact your state representative, senators, governor, and government agencies, NIH, USDA, FDA, don’t leave any of them out.
I believe that our government needs to help pay for the care of these
Chimpanzees that they have used in research for years.
The internet has made it so easy for us to help, we do not even have to write a letter, or buy stamps. There are petitions that we can sign that will help the Great Apes. It is important that if it goes to a government agency to write a comment. If you do not comment, your signature, and all the rest of those that didn’t comment will be put in a pile and counted as ONE.
I wrote this for Travis, because I do not ever want this to happen to another Chimpanzee……..
I need to clarify something I wrote, when I said that the sanctuaries knew what Chimpanzees were capable of…
I should of said they know that Chimpanzees are capable of hurting or killing a human because of their strength. If Travis would of been
in the wild, he would of confronted another Chimpanzee, that was equal in strength.
I do not believe that Chimpanzees are vicious, they have their own non human primate way of handling things. We need to respect them, and accept they do not make good pets, actors, or research subjects, it isn’t in their DNA.
I think it’s really important to repeat what I said earlier in this thread, no matter how close we are to chimps, how long we’ve spent with them we can’t know what’s going on inside their heads. In a realtively recent chimp special Jane Goodall was sitting next to Melissa, one of her favorite females in Gombe and wondering, after 40 years of observing chimps, how wonderful it would be to climb into her mind for just 5 minutes.
We humans want to understand what motivated Travis, we never will, it could be any number of things that have been discussed, it’s could be volatile chimp behavior. I think it’s important to look at his behavior objectively, not defend it or vilify it but accept it for what it was. This then, is the essence of why captive chimps should NEVER be pets and should be in safe places where their natural personalities can be expressed safely.
Perhaps Travis’ legacy will be the eventual passing of GAPA, the Captive Primate Safety Act. We should all be heartened by the swift passage thru the House and hopefully soon thru the Senate. Don’t forget to write and voice your support. There are many links in this thread. Thanks to everyone who is helping and welcome to those who have found us.
Chimpanzees should never be kept as pets!. We place too much emphasis on the supposed close genetic link. These magnificent primates deserve our respect in the form of admiration from a distance left in their natural habitat. They are extremely smart and many times stronger than a human man. They work to establish their positions in their family groups and use many vocalizations to express themselves. Those who know, work with and respect these animals would never enter into an enclosure with a full grown chimp; no matter how how well they think they know the animal. The babies are adorable, an enticement to buy, and don’t display the adult traits that will make them dangerous as they become adults. Please resist the temptation!
It seems to me that there are those individuals that bring attention to themselves by owning unusual pets (big cats for example). Look at all of the big cat rescue facilities that have opened in order to “correct” that problem. In my mind this is selfish and invites disaster. Spread the word.