Travis the chimp suppressed his bloodthirsty nature for 14 years before going on his vicious rampage that left his owner’s friend severely disfigured. "When humans keep wild animals as pets, they pose a danger, and more times than not it will end in tragedy.". This is what investigators are saying could be possible causes: 1. [42] The defense claimed the chimp had no violent behavior before the attack, and the two accusations in the 1990s attacks were untrue because the chimp had no teeth at the time. Until you've eaten with a chimp and bathed with a chimp, you don't know a chimp. The Travis the chimp incident is a tragedy but the distorted views of privately owned chimpanzees by people such as Herold, or those who are shown in commercials such as the Career Builder series of ads, is a travesty (undignified or trivializing treatment of a chimpanzee and a gross parody of the real animal). "An adult male chimpanzee is a formidable animal. Her attorney, Robert Golger, released the following statement: "Ms. Herold had suffered a series of heartbreaking losses over the last several years, beginning with the death of her daughter who was killed in a car accident, then her husband, then her beloved chimp Travis, as well as the tragic maiming of friend and employee Charla Nash. "[16], In October 2003, Travis escaped from the Herolds' car and held up traffic at a busy intersection, and was on the loose for several hours. Blumenthal subsequently sent letters to legislative leaders and the DEP Commissioner, asking them to support a proposed law that would ban all potentially dangerous exotic animals, such as chimpanzees, crocodiles, and venomous snakes, from being kept in a residential setting in Connecticut. Live Science reported that the chimp was taking Xanax, which is an anti-anxiety medication used for humans-beings. Highly territorial, chimpanzees will attack and kill other chimps. Fatally shot by a police officer, he retreated to Herold's home and died. Primatologists like McCann argue that chimpanzees should never be kept privately, and the WCS supports the Captive Primate Safety Act, a bill pending in Congress that would ban the private selling of primates as pets. The 14-year-old chimpanzee latched onto Nash's face and tore it apart. [10][12] Sandra slept and bathed with Travis, saying, "I'm, like, hollow now. [7][8][dubious – discuss], Travis was born near Festus, Missouri on October 21, 1995, at Mike and Connie Braun Casey's compound, currently named the Missouri Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Pertinence. Why did he do it? Travis the Attack Chimp could drive a car. Herold owned the chimp Travis, who brutally mauled Charla Nash in February 2009. [25] Doctors reattached her jaw, but announced on April 7, 2009 that Nash would be blind for life. Travis (1995 [1] – February 16, 2009) was a male chimpanzee who appeared in American television shows and commercials. [43], On May 24, 2010, 15 months after the attack, Sandra Herold died suddenly of a ruptured aortic aneurysm at the age of 72. Moe was … [12], The emergency crew described Nash's injuries as "horrendous. Factor Xa Inhibitor Reversal The chimp Travis had a different reputation before the attack. [19] 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 flew into a rage and attacked her. Police later fatally shot Travis to stop the attack… St. James Davis after chimp attack Getty Images The unraveling of the Davises' near-perfect life began on a hot day in August 1998. Sandra Herold, 72, died Monday of a ruptured aortic anuerysm. Because he was a Male Mature Adult Chimpanzee, Which is a WILD ANIMAL, that can act in ways that mean Nothing to the average human! November 19th, 2009 - 2:47 am ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt Tweet. He was fatally shot by police during the incident. Police say toxicology tests show Travis was drugged with Xanax, despite Herold's differing accounts since the attack. [10] Herold, then 70 years old, attempted to stop Travis by hitting him with a shovel and stabbing him with a butcher knife. Attacks on human beings are rare, but they do happen — and the results are often catastrophic. [26] Her family started a trust fund to raise money to pay her "unfathomable" medical bills and support her daughter. Chimpanzee known for attacking a friend of his owner. But when Charla Nash, 55, a friend of Herold's, visited on Monday afternoon, Travis suddenly lashed out at her. I may have been behind him once or twice. "They are incredibly powerful, and people underestimate that," says McCann. He’s eating her!” “Bring the guns. It eventually surfaced that Travis the Chimp had been suffereng from Lyme Disease, and he had been given medication (Xanax) that could have possibly attributed to the violent attack on Charla Nash. In a separate incident, Travis' mother Suzy was fatally shot following an escape in 2001. U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer introduced the Captive Primate Safety Act introduced on January 6, 2009, which would have added monkeys, great apes, and lemurs to the list of "prohibited wildlife species" that cannot be sold or purchased through interstate and foreign sales. Charla Nash was attacked by her friends pet chimp Travis … Startled, Travis unbuckled his seat belt, opened the car door and chased the man, but did not catch him. chimp named Travis, whose owner, Sandra Herold, 70, raised him as part of her own family, had no history of violence — aside from one incident in 2003, when he escaped and stopped traffic in Stamford for hours. Empowering stroke prevention. Travis (October 21, 1995 – February 16, 2009) was a male common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) who, in February 2009, mauled a friend of his owner, blinding her while severing several body parts and severely lacerating her face. 2009. [36], 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. Christoffersen, John, of Associated Press. Sound from the original 9-1-1 call, radio traffic from the police shooting of Travis, and the aftermath of the hunt were used in the episode. When police arrived, they lured the chimpanzee into the car several times only to have Travis let himself out of another door and occasionally chase the officers around the car. In July 2013, Nash's attorneys began efforts to appeal the court's decision. Herold and her husband, who died in 2004, brought him to their North Stamford home … Travis himself was reportedly a beloved figure around Stamford; he was recognizable from television commercials, could bathe and dress himself and use a computer — qualities that made him seem dangerously close to human. Travis the chimp suppressed his bloodthirsty nature for 14 years before going on his vicious rampage that left his owner's friend severely disfigured. Police said they don't know why Travis attacked Nash as she got out of her car to visit Herold. The news reports have been inconsistent. [12] Travis was the Herolds' constant companion and would often accompany them to work and on their shopping excursions in town. Répondre Enregistrer. Doctors removed her eyes due to an infection, and only recently did she learn she'll no longer be able to see. [20] He had been taking medication for Lyme disease. "[17] Within the following 72 hours, Nash underwent more than seven hours of surgery on her face and hands by four teams of surgeons. [47], Travis' escape and subsequent attack of Charla Nash were used as part of the "Chimps" episode of the Animal Planet 2010-2011 documentary series: Fatal Attractions. "Sandra did not have a prescription for it," Stamford police Capt. Travis was the son of Coco, who’d been snatched from the jungles of equatorial Africa in the early seventies and purchased for $12,000, and an 11-year-old retired zoo chimp named Suzy. [18][59] The attack led the Humane Society of the United States to join with the Wildlife Conservation Society in supporting the Act. For Sandra Herold, the 70-year-old Stamford woman whose pet almost killed a friend Monday, her 14-year-old chimpanzee, Travis, was a “time bomb,” de Waal said, comparing him to a pet tiger. [9] Sandra and Jerome Herold adopted Travis when he was three days old. The ferocious attack by a chimpanzee of a woman in Stamford, Conn., on Feb. 16 wasn't a question of if but of when. The hospital provided counseling to its staff members who initially treated her because of the extraordinary nature of Nash's wounds. [31], In June 2011, Nash underwent transplant surgery performed by a team led by Dr. Bohdan Pomahač at the Harvard teaching affiliate, Brigham and Women's Hospital, receiving a donated face and hands. [11] The Herolds raised Travis at their home at Rock Rimmon Road in the North Stamford section of Stamford, Connecticut. Travis the chimp, which had appeared in television commercials for Coca-Cola and Old Navy, jumped on Nash, biting and mauling her. 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! why?" "Only . Herold then called 9-1-1 and pleaded for help. [3][18], On February 16, 2009, at around 3:40 p.m., Travis attacked Sandra Herold's 55-year-old friend Charla Nash, inflicting devastating injuries to her face and limbs. [62] On February 23, 2009, the House voted 323 to 95 in favor of the bill,[61] and the editorial boards of several major newspapers, including The New York Times and Newsday, supported its passage. [12] The Herolds owned a towing company, and Travis would pose for photos at the shop and ride with the tow truck, his seatbelt buckled as he wore a baseball shirt. [12], Having grown up among people, Travis had been socialized to humans since birth. © 2019 TIME USA, LLC. [27] Nash revealed her damaged face in public for the first time on The Oprah Winfrey Show on November 11, 2009. I thought those sorts of animals could be trained and had large brains. The 15-year-old chimp once starred in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola. I do think that she was mentally unbalanced, however. Despite the potential threat chimpanzees pose, many U.S. states, including Connecticut, legally allow people to raise them as pets. The chimp turned around, she said, as if to say, "'Mom, what did you do? "He listened better than my nephews," the neighbor remarked after Travis had mauled Nash. What a chimpanzee will do Andrew Oberle, a 26-year-old Texas graduate student, remains in critical conditionafter the chimpanzees he was working to protect turned on him violently earlier this week in South Africa. A neighbor said he used to play around and wrestle with Travis. Herold then called a friend well known to Travis to come over to help calm the chimp down. The majority of the time, a chimp doesn’t attack to kill- you’ve gotten lucky in that regard. [61] Twenty states and the District of Columbia already have laws banning primates as pets. A Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) spokesman clarified that Travis was exempt because he did not appear to present a public health risk and was owned before the registration requirement began. (See pictures of animals with prosthetic limbs. [34] Necropsy results in May 2009 confirmed the chimp was overweight and had been stabbed. ), Nor are wild chimpanzees the docile, childlike creatures portrayed on TV. He logged onto the computer to look at pictures, watched television using a remote control, and brushed his teeth using a Water Pik. [41] Other potential defendants included the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the city of Stamford, and the veterinarian who prescribed the Xanax. Turns out the attack chimp ate filet mignon, lobster…again, in the history of evolution, when did chimps eat lobster? '"[10] The animal grew angrier. Leslie Mostel Paul told The Associated Press the chimp … He was shot dead when he tried to attack a police officer. I would not want to be standing next to one." Savage attack But Travis was acting “rambunctious” Monday afternoon. Travis was the son of Coco, who’d been snatched from the jungles of equatorial Africa in the early seventies and purchased for $12,000, and an 11-year-old retired zoo chimp named Suzy. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) did not enforce the law on the Herolds because they had owned 200-pound (91 kg) Travis for so long and the DEP did not believe Travis posed a public safety risk. (See pictures of the 50th running of the Daytona 500.). "Sandra did not have a prescription for it," Stamford police Capt. Travis the chimp attacked police cars during the Feb. 16, 2009 rampage in Stamford, Conn. Police shot and killed the 200-lb animal after it ripped off Charla Nash's hands, nose, lips and eyelids. Medics rushed Nash … [23] The chimp had been See pictures of animals with prosthetic limbs. 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