Belinda, I sure wouldn’t want wild animals living in the neighborhood…..but this chimp was on TV and kind of a celebrity around town and the mascot of this woman’s business. So people were comfortable with it. But then, I wouldn’t want to live around pit bulls, etc. The police were very aware of the chimp and know one did anything for 14 years. The woman who was attacked was very friendly with the chimp, too. I think what will be discovered is the Lyme disease could have had a part in it’s wild response. But that won’t be known for weeks. This pet went into every shop in town with the owner, even into the bakery to eat its favorite cake. If the police and the townspeople accepted it to that degree for 14 years…obviously no one saw it as capable of doing something like this. 

Plently of people are wacky when it comes to their pets…that doesn’t mean they are unstable. Rather unfair to judge a situation without knowing all the facts which none of us do. It is horrific all the way around. 

The woman whom Travis had bitten before HAD asked the owner for permission to shake the chimp’s hand before she offered it; she did not just thrust her hand at the chimp. Travis’ owner had just about everyone convinced that he was no more dangerous than a human child.   The woman then "had to get rabies shots because Herold was slow in producing Travis’ medical records" and she warned the police and others that Travis could potentially hurt others, but they did not heed her warnings.

Lyme Disease (if confirmed) *could* have been involved, I guess, but being a wild animal, and one in captivitiy, could be sufficient reason for acting, well….wild.  I do not think the friend having different hair or a new toy (Travis was used to having all kinds of toys) caused his behavior:  remember the reason she was called over in the first place.  Xanax *could* have affected his behavior, but I bet the owner thought it would help based on prior experience.  Having freely admitted to giving Travis wine and tea on several other occasions, I doubt that this is the first time he had been given Xanax. 

Travis had also escaped his ‘home’ on prior occasions, one time snarling traffic in town for a few hours, and police had to be called in.  I think his behavior was showing a pattern of escalation and it was only a matter of time before something like this mauling would happen. Aggressive behavior is more the ‘norm’ for a chimp, especially for an adult male, than being dressed in human clothing, sleeping with a human woman in bed, and drinking out of wine glasses.  Treating chimps like human beings does not rid them of their natural instincts or other chimp behaviors.

I believe that the owner called her friend over to try to help subdue Travis (who must have been agitated b/c she was trying to drug him and could not get him back in by herself) and did not alert Animal Control because she did not want his behavior reported.  Leads me to wonder how many other events were intentionally not reported, further leading people to believe that Travis was more peaceful and  ‘controllable’ than he actually was.