Now more than ever, documentary series and reality tv shows seem to be becoming more and more popular. In my mind, it all started with “Tiger King” all those years ago when everyone wanted to know the goss about exotic animals and their owner. Now, from the same director and team as “Tiger King”, we have “Chimp Crazy.”
“Chimp Crazy” focuses on a key player in the American chimp trade named Tonia Haddix, mentee of Connie Casey (the one who really started the craze for chimps in the 70s). Tonia is, from the start, clearly crazy about these chimps. And I mean that. Crazy. She is obsessed with the chimps, and you would think that means she takes good care of them… That’s where you’d be wrong.
These chimps are fed a horrible diet. Often being gave McDonalds, Powerade, candy, etc. Why are we giving animals a bunch of sugar and Red 40? It’s like she WANTS them to go insane. Not only that, but they force the chimps to work and be separated from their mothers almost immediately after birth. As if the immediate separation isn’t trauma enough, then the young/baby chimps are forced into scary working situations with countless people they don’t know or trust. There was one example given in the show of a chimp who did greeting cards, but in order to get him to smile in a more “human” way as opposed to a chimp’s smile, they would make him feel scared. This was because the “human” smile they wanted was actually a fear response from the chimp. So how would they get him to constantly do this FEAR RESPONSE constantly? You can probably figure that out on your own.
To further the horrible treatment, once they decide a chimp is too old to work or if the chimp starts acting weird, they are locked away forever. Many of the chimps in this documentary were locked in small cages, alone, some for 30+ years. Imagine being locked up in a cage alone for 30+ years. The emotional turmoil that these chimps go through is heartbreaking. You can see it in their eyes. You can see it in the way they pace and pace in their cages. The way they hang on the bars and scream to be let out. It is haunting.
Do I personally like chimps? No. Actually, I am incredibly terrified of them, and I would not have watched this show if my roommates hadn’t made me.
I think chimps are so scary to me because they are so humanoid it freaks me out. Humanoid as in if you gave the strongest man alive as many steroids as you could and he ripped your face off. They are so incredibly strong and if one locks in on you and decides he doesn’t like the look of you or whatever, there is NOTHING you can do. You’re dead.
Do I still feel bad for the chimps even though I have a crippling fear of them? Of course I do. I cried and sobbed multiple times throughout this series because the chimps are SO human that you cannot possibly feel anything but their pain. It is so eye opening to see that some people just think they can do what they want and treat animals however they want even though they are CONSTANTLY mentioning how “chimps share 98% of their DNA with humans”. If you really believe that, then why are you treating them in such an INhumane way?
And yes, it is terrifying when the chimps become old and more aggressive, BUT THEY ARE MEANT TO BE WILD ANIMALS. If they were meant to be docile creatures up until their death, way more people would have them as pets. But since we live in such a “throw away society”, it’s okay to have an almost-human pet for 13 years (give or take) and then lock them away and never pay them any attention again. Isn’t that what we do with the elderly already?
This series is truly sickening, but if you have any curiosity about the sickening way that people treat animals and try to get away with it, I suggest you watch it. Luckily, Tonia’s chimps were taken by PETA, and many are now enjoying their lives in sanctuaries with other chimps. But the trauma of what they experienced, that will live with them and haunt them for the rest of their lives.