Travis (chimpanzee)
Encyclopedia
Travis was a male chimpanzee
(Pan troglodytes) who appeared in American
television shows and commercials. In February 2009, Travis suddenly attacked Charla Nash, a friend of his owner. During the attack, Travis grievously mauled Nash, blinding her while severing her nose, ears, both hands and severely lacerating her face. He was subsequently shot on the arrival of the police after trying to attack an officer.
As an animal actor
, Travis had appeared in several television commercials, including spots for Coca-Cola
and Old Navy
. He had also appeared on The Maury Povich Show
, The Man Show
, and appeared in a television pilot
that featured Sheryl Crow
and Michael Moore
.
, at Mike and Connie Braun Casey's compound, currently named the Missouri Chimpanzee Sanctuary. In a separate incident, Travis' mother Suzy was shot and killed following an escape in 2001. He was adopted by Sandra and Jerome Herold when he was three days old. They raised Travis at their home at Rock Rimmon Road in the North Stamford
section of Stamford, Connecticut
. Travis was the Herolds' constant companion, and would often accompany them to work and when they went shopping in town. The Herolds owned a towing company
and Travis would pose for photos at the shop and ride with the tow truck, his seatbelt buckled and wearing a baseball shirt. Travis became well known in the town and had been known to greet police officers whom they would encounter when towing cars.
Like most wild animals, the chimpanzee could not be domesticated, but he was socialized. A neighbor said he used to play around with Travis and wrestle with him. He said the animal always knew when to stop and paid close attention to its owner. "He listened better than my nephews", the neighbor said. "I just don't know why he would do that."
Chimpanzees have evolved great strength. Male Pan troglodytes, once past puberty, exhibit increasingly violent behavior as they age, and are much more aggressive than gorillas. They attack faces and other projections of the body, biting and pulling with their hands and feet. Travis suffered from Lyme Disease
. Toxicology reports confirmed Sandra's statement that she had given Travis Xanax-laced tea the day of the attack which could have exacerbated his symptoms. Xanax (Alprazolam) is a short acting potent anti-anxiety drug that can cause disinhibition and disorientation when taken in recreational doses and occasionally paradoxical reactions of hallucination, aggression, rage and mania.
Travis was able to open doors using keys, could dress himself, watered plants, was able to feed hay to his owner's horses, ate at a table with the rest of the family, drank wine from a stemmed glass, and was so fond of ice cream that he learned the schedules of passing ice cream trucks. He logged onto the computer to look at pictures, watched television using a remote control and brushed his teeth using a Water Pik. On television, he enjoyed watching baseball
. Travis had also driven a car on several occasions. Jerome died from cancer in 2004, and her only child died in a car accident there before; as a result, Sandra Herold regarded Travis almost as a son and pampered him. Sandra slept and bathed with Travis saying, "I'm, like, hollow now. He slept with me every night. Until you've eaten with a chimp and bathed with a chimp, you don't know a chimp."
s to apply for a permit. The new law took effect in 2004, and as of Travis's death, no one in the state had applied to adopt a chimpanzee. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection did not enforce the law on the Herolds because they had owned the 200-pound Travis for so long and because the DEP did not expect that Travis posed a public safety risk.
. Herold, then 70 years old, attempted to stop Travis by hitting him with a shovel and stabbing him with a butcher knife
. "For me to do something like that – put a knife in him – was like putting one in myself," Herold later said. The chimp turned around, she said, as if to say, "'Mom, what did you do?'" The animal was angered more. She then called 9-1-1
and pleaded for help. Travis' screams can be heard in the background of the tape as Sandra pleads for police, who initially believed the call to be a hoax, until she started screaming, "He's eating her!" Emergency medical services
waited for police before approaching the house. Travis walked up to the police car when it arrived and tried to open a locked passenger door, instead smashing a side-view mirror. Then he went calmly around to the driver's-side door and opened it, at which point Officer Frank Chiafari shot him several times. Travis retreated to the house, where he was found dead next to his cage.
Injuries to Nash were described as "horrendous" by the emergency crew. Within the following 72 hours, she underwent more than seven hours of surgery on her face and hands by four teams of surgeons. The hospital provided counseling to its staff members who initially treated her because of the extraordinary nature of Nash's injuries. Paramedics noted she lost her hands, nose, eyes, lips, mid-face bone structure, and received significant brain tissue injuries. Doctors were able to successfully reattach her jaw, but announced on April 7, 2009 that Nash would be blind for life. Her injuries made her a possible candidate for an experimental face transplant
surgery. After initial treatment at Stamford Hospital, Nash was transferred to the Cleveland Clinic
in Cleveland, Ohio
. Her family started a trust fund to raise money to pay her "unfathomable" medical bills and support her daughter. Nash revealed her damaged face in public for the first time on the Oprah Winfrey Show on November 11, 2009. She was not in physical pain from the attack, and family members said she hoped to leave the Cleveland Clinic soon. Pictures have surfaced on the internet displaying Nash's face before and after the attack.
In June 2011 Nash underwent transplant surgery performed by a team led by MUDr. Bohdan Pomahač
, receiving a donated face and hands. The hands transplant was successful, but because Nash developed pneumonia shortly thereafter, doctors were forced to remove her newly transplanted hands due to the infection and resulting poor circulation.
As per standard procedure, Travis's head was taken to the state laboratory for a rabies
test and the body was taken to the University of Connecticut
for a necropsy. The head tested negative for rabies, but there was Xanax remaining in his system. Necropsy results in May 2009 confirmed the chimp was overweight and had been stabbed.
The remains were cremated at All Pets Crematory in Stamford on February 25, 2009.
On May 25, 2010, the Associated Press
reported that Sandra Herold had died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm
at the age of 72. 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 only child, then her husband, then her beloved chimp Travis, as well as the tragic maiming of friend and employee Charla Nash. In the end, her heart, which had been broken so many times before, could take no more."
2010-2011 documentary series Fatal Attractions
. Sound from the original 9-1-1 call as well as radio traffic from the police shooting of Travis and the aftermath of the hunt were used in the episode.
News reports of the incident spread as far as Ireland
and China
. The attack, similar to another chimpanzee attack four years earlier in California, provoked discussion on the wisdom of keeping such exotic animals as pets by sources such as Time
magazine and primatologists Jane Goodall
and Frans de Waal
. Afterward, Sandra Herold was allegedly harassed by members of PETA
, although the organization stated that it did not have any official involvement.
The incident inspired controversy over a political cartoon: On February 18, 2009, the New York Post
published a piece by Sean Delonas
depicting a police officer with a smoking gun, standing over the corpse of a chimpanzee, and commenting to a fellow officer, "They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill
." The publication of the comic triggered media and other commentary which purported a link between the cartoon's chimpanzee and the stimulus bill's champion, President
Barack Obama
, and racial overtones relating to African Americans being portrayed as non-human apes. On February 24, 2009, the owner and Chairman of the Post, Rupert Murdoch
, apologized for the cartoon.
Reality television
actress Kim Kardashian
received criticism for posting photos of her family with a three-year-old chimpanzee on her blog only days after the attack. The chimpanzee had been rented for her television show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians
. Kardashian apologized and noted "I understand my timing was not appropriate, and it was insensitive of me. What happened to the woman that was attacked by the chimpanzee was devastating. In no way did I mean to insult or offend anyone by posting these pictures."
Frank Chiafari, the police officer who fatally shot Travis, was initially unable to get his therapy for depression and anxiety covered after the incident. This led to legislation proposed in 2010 that would cover compensation for mental or emotional impairment after killing an animal when under threat of deadly force.
Attorney General
Richard Blumenthal
noted that a defect in the existing 2004 Connecticut law prohibiting chimpanzees of Travis's size, itself a result of the 2003 incident, allowed the attack to occur. 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. 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. The DEP was seeking a similar law banning large primates and, after the incident, announced that it sought the help of the public, police officers and animal control officer
s to report such pets to the agency. The editorial board
of The Advocate
newspaper in Stamford
also advocated banning the possession of all exotic birds and reptiles.
The Captive Primate Safety Act
was introduced by U.S. Representative
Earl Blumenauer
on January 6, 2009. The Bill would have added monkeys, great apes and lemur
s to the list of "prohibited wildlife species" that cannot be sold or purchased through interstate and foreign sales. The attack led the Humane Society of the United States
to join with the Wildlife Conservation Society
in supporting the Act. Travis' attack resulted in the Bill's reintroduction by co-sponsor, Rep. Mark Kirk
, on February 23, 2009. Rep. Rob Bishop
argued against the Bill during the floor debate, noting it would cost $4 million annually and do nothing directly to prevent chimpanzee attacks on humans. He also claimed such attacks are relatively rare. Twenty states and the District of Columbia already have laws banning primates as pets. On February 23, 2009, the House voted 323 to 95 in favor of the Bill. . The editorial boards of several major newspapers, including The New York Times
and Newsday
advocated for the passage of the Bill. The bill was never taken up by the US Senate.
Common Chimpanzee
The common chimpanzee , also known as the robust chimpanzee, is a great ape. Colloquially, the common chimpanzee is often called the chimpanzee , though technically this term refers to both species in the genus Pan: the common chimpanzee and the closely related bonobo, formerly called the pygmy...
(Pan troglodytes) who appeared in American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television shows and commercials. In February 2009, Travis suddenly attacked Charla Nash, a friend of his owner. During the attack, Travis grievously mauled Nash, blinding her while severing her nose, ears, both hands and severely lacerating her face. He was subsequently shot on the arrival of the police after trying to attack an officer.
As an animal actor
Animals on television
There are many appearances and depictions of animals on television, ranging from the use of working animals as actors to anthropomorphism. Real animals are seen on television and in film for numerous reasons and in varying capacities...
, Travis had appeared in several television commercials, including spots for Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
and Old Navy
Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing brand as well as a chain of stores owned by Gap, Inc., with corporate operations in San Francisco and San Bruno, California. It is one of the first major corporations to house headquarters in the new Mission Bay district of San Francisco.Gap, Inc. was run by...
. He had also appeared on The Maury Povich Show
Maury (TV series)
Maury is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich.When the series first aired in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Domestic Television...
, The Man Show
The Man Show
The Man Show is an American comedy television show on Comedy Central. It was created in 1999 by its two original co-hosts, Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla, and their executive producer Daniel Kellison.-Format:...
, and appeared in a television pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
that featured Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
and Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
.
Socialization
Travis was born near Festus, MissouriFestus, Missouri
Festus is a city in Jefferson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 11,367 at the 2009 estimated census. Festus and its neighbor Crystal City are often collectively known as the "Twin Cities"; however, they are incorporated separately....
, at Mike and Connie Braun Casey's compound, currently named the Missouri Chimpanzee Sanctuary. In a separate incident, Travis' mother Suzy was shot and killed following an escape in 2001. He was adopted by Sandra and Jerome Herold when he was three days old. They raised Travis at their home at Rock Rimmon Road in the North Stamford
North Stamford
North Stamford is section of Stamford, Connecticut north of the Merritt Parkway. Often hilly and woodsy, it is less densely developed than the rest of the city....
section of Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
. Travis was the Herolds' constant companion, and would often accompany them to work and when they went shopping in town. The Herolds owned a towing company
Tow truck
A tow truck is a vehicle used to transport motor vehicles to another location , or to recover vehicles which are no longer on a drivable surface.Towing services are generally provided by an emergency road service operator...
and Travis would pose for photos at the shop and ride with the tow truck, his seatbelt buckled and wearing a baseball shirt. Travis became well known in the town and had been known to greet police officers whom they would encounter when towing cars.
Like most wild animals, the chimpanzee could not be domesticated, but he was socialized. A neighbor said he used to play around with Travis and wrestle with him. He said the animal always knew when to stop and paid close attention to its owner. "He listened better than my nephews", the neighbor said. "I just don't know why he would do that."
Chimpanzees have evolved great strength. Male Pan troglodytes, once past puberty, exhibit increasingly violent behavior as they age, and are much more aggressive than gorillas. They attack faces and other projections of the body, biting and pulling with their hands and feet. Travis suffered from Lyme Disease
Lyme disease
Lyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto is the main cause of Lyme disease in the United States, whereas Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii cause most...
. Toxicology reports confirmed Sandra's statement that she had given Travis Xanax-laced tea the day of the attack which could have exacerbated his symptoms. Xanax (Alprazolam) is a short acting potent anti-anxiety drug that can cause disinhibition and disorientation when taken in recreational doses and occasionally paradoxical reactions of hallucination, aggression, rage and mania.
Travis was able to open doors using keys, could dress himself, watered plants, was able to feed hay to his owner's horses, ate at a table with the rest of the family, drank wine from a stemmed glass, and was so fond of ice cream that he learned the schedules of passing ice cream trucks. He logged onto the computer to look at pictures, watched television using a remote control and brushed his teeth using a Water Pik. On television, he enjoyed watching baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
. Travis had also driven a car on several occasions. Jerome died from cancer in 2004, and her only child died in a car accident there before; as a result, Sandra Herold regarded Travis almost as a son and pampered him. Sandra slept and bathed with Travis saying, "I'm, like, hollow now. He slept with me every night. Until you've eaten with a chimp and bathed with a chimp, you don't know a chimp."
1996 incident
After the 2009 incident became an international news story, a woman who had lived in the same area as Travis claimed that in 1996 the chimpanzee had bitten her hand and tried to pull her into a vehicle as she greeted him. She claimed to have complained to the Herolds and to police.2003 incident
In October 2003, Travis escaped from the Herolds' car and held up traffic at a busy intersection for several hours. The incident began when a young man threw something at the car that went through a half-open window and struck Travis while they were stopped at a traffic light. Startled, Travis unbuckled his seat belt, opened the car door and went after the man, but did not catch him. 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. The 2003 incident led to the passing of a Connecticut law prohibiting people from keeping primates weighing more than 50 pounds as pets and requiring owners of exotic petExotic pet
An exotic pet is a rare or unusual animal pet, or an animal kept as a pet which is not commonly thought of as a pet.The definition is an evolving one; some rodents, reptiles, and amphibians have become firmly enough established in the world of animal fancy to no longer be considered exotic...
s to apply for a permit. The new law took effect in 2004, and as of Travis's death, no one in the state had applied to adopt a chimpanzee. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection did not enforce the law on the Herolds because they had owned the 200-pound Travis for so long and because the DEP did not expect that Travis posed a public safety risk.
2009 attack
On February 16, 2009, Travis attacked Sandra Herold's friend Charla Nash, age 55, inflicting devastating injuries to her face and limbs. Travis had left the house with Herold's car keys, and Nash came to help get the animal back in the house; upon seeing Nash, Travis immediately attacked her. Travis was familiar with Nash, who had also worked at the Herolds' towing company, although Nash had a different hair style at the time of the attack. The chimp had been taking medication for Lyme diseaseLyme disease
Lyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto is the main cause of Lyme disease in the United States, whereas Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii cause most...
. Herold, then 70 years old, attempted to stop Travis by hitting him with a shovel and stabbing him with a butcher knife
Butcher knife
A butcher knife is a knife designed and used primarily for the butchering and/or dressing of animals.During the late 18th century to mid 1840s, the butcher knife was a key tool for mountain men. Simple, useful and cheap to produce, they were used for everything from skinning beaver, cutting food,...
. "For me to do something like that – put a knife in him – was like putting one in myself," Herold later said. The chimp turned around, she said, as if to say, "'Mom, what did you do?'" The animal was angered more. She then called 9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
and pleaded for help. Travis' screams can be heard in the background of the tape as Sandra pleads for police, who initially believed the call to be a hoax, until she started screaming, "He's eating her!" Emergency medical services
Emergency medical services
Emergency medical services are a type of emergency service dedicated to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care and/or transport to definitive care, to patients with illnesses and injuries which the patient, or the medical practitioner, believes constitutes a medical emergency...
waited for police before approaching the house. Travis walked up to the police car when it arrived and tried to open a locked passenger door, instead smashing a side-view mirror. Then he went calmly around to the driver's-side door and opened it, at which point Officer Frank Chiafari shot him several times. Travis retreated to the house, where he was found dead next to his cage.
Injuries to Nash were described as "horrendous" by the emergency crew. Within the following 72 hours, she underwent more than seven hours of surgery on her face and hands by four teams of surgeons. The hospital provided counseling to its staff members who initially treated her because of the extraordinary nature of Nash's injuries. Paramedics noted she lost her hands, nose, eyes, lips, mid-face bone structure, and received significant brain tissue injuries. Doctors were able to successfully reattach her jaw, but announced on April 7, 2009 that Nash would be blind for life. Her injuries made her a possible candidate for an experimental face transplant
Face transplant
A face transplant is a still-experimental procedure to replace all or part of a person's face. The world's first full face transplant was completed in Spain in 2010.-Beneficiaries of face transplant:...
surgery. After initial treatment at Stamford Hospital, Nash was transferred to the Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic
The Cleveland Clinic is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Clinic is currently regarded as one of the top 4 hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News & World Report...
in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. Her family started a trust fund to raise money to pay her "unfathomable" medical bills and support her daughter. Nash revealed her damaged face in public for the first time on the Oprah Winfrey Show on November 11, 2009. She was not in physical pain from the attack, and family members said she hoped to leave the Cleveland Clinic soon. Pictures have surfaced on the internet displaying Nash's face before and after the attack.
In June 2011 Nash underwent transplant surgery performed by a team led by MUDr. Bohdan Pomahač
Bohdan Pomahač
Bohdan Pomahač is the plastic surgeon who led the team that performed the first full face transplant in the United States.-Biography:Pomahač's parents were a chemical engineer and a school teacher...
, receiving a donated face and hands. The hands transplant was successful, but because Nash developed pneumonia shortly thereafter, doctors were forced to remove her newly transplanted hands due to the infection and resulting poor circulation.
As per standard procedure, Travis's head was taken to the state laboratory for a rabies
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
test and the body was taken to the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
for a necropsy. The head tested negative for rabies, but there was Xanax remaining in his system. Necropsy results in May 2009 confirmed the chimp was overweight and had been stabbed.
The remains were cremated at All Pets Crematory in Stamford on February 25, 2009.
Lawsuit
In March 2009, a $50 million lawsuit was filed against Sandra Herold by an attorney for the family of Charla Nash. On May 6, a Stamford judge froze Herold's assets, valued at $10 million. Other potential defendants include the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the city of Stamford, and the veterinarian who prescribed the Xanax. The defense claimed that the chimp had no violent behavior before the attack, and that the two accusations in the 1990s attacks were untrue due to the fact that the chimp had no teeth at the time.On May 25, 2010, the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported that Sandra Herold had died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm
Aortic aneurysm
An aortic aneurysm is a general term for any swelling of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times normal, usually representing an underlying weakness in the wall of the aorta at that location...
at the age of 72. 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 only child, then her husband, then her beloved chimp Travis, as well as the tragic maiming of friend and employee Charla Nash. In the end, her heart, which had been broken so many times before, could take no more."
In media
The escape of Travis and his subsequent attack of Charla Nash were used as part of the "Chimps" episode of the Animal PlanetAnimal Planet
Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...
2010-2011 documentary series Fatal Attractions
Fatal Attractions (Animal Planet)
Fatal Attractions is a recurring documentary series on Animal Planet. First aired in 2010, the show focuses on human obsessions with wild animals that can become dangerous and sometimes fatal.-Premise:...
. Sound from the original 9-1-1 call as well as radio traffic from the police shooting of Travis and the aftermath of the hunt were used in the episode.
News reports of the incident spread as far as Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The attack, similar to another chimpanzee attack four years earlier in California, provoked discussion on the wisdom of keeping such exotic animals as pets by sources such as Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine and primatologists Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
and Frans de Waal
Frans de Waal
Fransiscus Bernardus Maria de Waal, PhD , is a Dutch primatologist and ethologist. He is the Charles Howard Candler professor of Primate Behavior in the Emory University psychology department in Atlanta, Georgia, and director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research...
. Afterward, Sandra Herold was allegedly harassed by members of PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
, although the organization stated that it did not have any official involvement.
The incident inspired controversy over a political cartoon: On February 18, 2009, the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
published a piece by Sean Delonas
Sean Delonas
Sean Delonas is an American political cartoonist and author whose work is published by the New York Post as part of their Page Six content.-Life and career:Delonas graduated from the New York Academy of Art...
depicting a police officer with a smoking gun, standing over the corpse of a chimpanzee, and commenting to a fellow officer, "They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009, by President Barack Obama.To...
." The publication of the comic triggered media and other commentary which purported a link between the cartoon's chimpanzee and the stimulus bill's champion, President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, and racial overtones relating to African Americans being portrayed as non-human apes. On February 24, 2009, the owner and Chairman of the Post, Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
, apologized for the cartoon.
Reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
actress Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian
Kimberly Noel "Kim" Kardashian is an American socialite, television personality, model, actress and businesswoman. She is known for the E! reality series that she shares with her family—Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and its spin-offs including Kourtney and Kim Take New York...
received criticism for posting photos of her family with a three-year-old chimpanzee on her blog only days after the attack. The chimpanzee had been rented for her television show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
Keeping Up with the Kardashians is an American reality television series that airs on E!. The series premiered in October 2007. It focuses on the personal and professional lives of the members of the Kardashian and Jenner family. There will be a 7th Season to premiere in 2012.As of September 2011,...
. Kardashian apologized and noted "I understand my timing was not appropriate, and it was insensitive of me. What happened to the woman that was attacked by the chimpanzee was devastating. In no way did I mean to insult or offend anyone by posting these pictures."
Frank Chiafari, the police officer who fatally shot Travis, was initially unable to get his therapy for depression and anxiety covered after the incident. This led to legislation proposed in 2010 that would cover compensation for mental or emotional impairment after killing an animal when under threat of deadly force.
Influence on legislation
ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
Attorney General
State Attorney General
The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states and territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney general serves as the head of a state department of justice, with responsibilities similar to those...
Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal is the junior United States Senator from Connecticut and a member of the Democratic Party. Previously, he served as Attorney General of Connecticut....
noted that a defect in the existing 2004 Connecticut law prohibiting chimpanzees of Travis's size, itself a result of the 2003 incident, allowed the attack to occur. A Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
Department of Environmental Protection
Department of Environmental Protection is a name used by several states in the United States of America for the agency charged with proposing and enforcing environmental law...
(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. 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. The DEP was seeking a similar law banning large primates and, after the incident, announced that it sought the help of the public, police officers and animal control officer
Animal control officer
Historically, Dog whippers were charged with keeping dogs out of churches in 16th- to 19th- century Europe; they also sometimes filled a general animal-control role in villages, confining strays...
s to report such pets to the agency. The editorial board
Editorial board
The editorial board is a group of people, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.- Board makeup :...
of The Advocate
The Advocate (Stamford)
The Advocate is a seven-day daily newspaper based in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. The paper shares a publisher and editor with the Greenwich Time; both are owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation, a multinational corporate media conglomerate with $4 billion in revenues.The Advocate circulates...
newspaper in Stamford
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
also advocated banning the possession of all exotic birds and reptiles.
The Captive Primate Safety Act
Captive Primate Safety Act
The Captive Primate Safety Act was a bill introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Rep. Eddie Johnson on July 10, 2007. The legislation, had it been enacted, would have modified the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to treat nonhuman primates as prohibited wildlife species, allowing...
was introduced by U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Earl Blumenauer
Earl Blumenauer
Earl Blumenauer is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1996. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of Portland east of the Willamette River. A native of Portland, he previously spent over 20 years as a public official representing the city.-Early...
on January 6, 2009. The Bill would have added monkeys, great apes and lemur
Lemur
Lemurs are a clade of strepsirrhine primates endemic to the island of Madagascar. They are named after the lemures of Roman mythology due to the ghostly vocalizations, reflective eyes, and the nocturnal habits of some species...
s to the list of "prohibited wildlife species" that cannot be sold or purchased through interstate and foreign sales. The attack led the Humane Society of the United States
Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States , based in Washington, D.C., is the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. In 2009, HSUS reported assets of over US$160 million....
to join with the Wildlife Conservation Society
Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society based at the Bronx Zoo was founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society and currently manages some of wild places around the world, with over 500 field conservation projects in 60 countries, and 200 scientists on staff...
in supporting the Act. Travis' attack resulted in the Bill's reintroduction by co-sponsor, Rep. Mark Kirk
Mark Kirk
Mark Steven Kirk is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, Kirk was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 10th congressional district....
, on February 23, 2009. Rep. Rob Bishop
Rob Bishop
Robert William "Rob" Bishop is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus.-Early life, education, and early career:...
argued against the Bill during the floor debate, noting it would cost $4 million annually and do nothing directly to prevent chimpanzee attacks on humans. He also claimed such attacks are relatively rare. Twenty states and the District of Columbia already have laws banning primates as pets. On February 23, 2009, the House voted 323 to 95 in favor of the Bill. . The editorial boards of several major newspapers, including The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
advocated for the passage of the Bill. The bill was never taken up by the US Senate.
External links
- Charla Nash Trust, a trust set up for the woman attacked by Travis in 2009
- The Hartford Courant, a small photo gallery in The Hartford Courants web site, showing Herold, Travis, and Nash
- YouTube Video of Fatal Attractions Incident of Travis (Chimpanzee)