Travis (chimpanzee) facts for kids
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| Species | Common chimpanzee |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male |
| Born | October 21, 1995 Festus, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | February 16, 2009 (aged 13) Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wounds |
| Known for | Attack on Charla Nash |
| Owner | Jerome Herold (died 2004) Sandra Herold (died 2010) |
| Parent(s) | Suzy (mother) (died 2001) |
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
Travis (October 21, 1995 – February 16, 2009) was a male common chimpanzee who, as an animal actor, appeared in several television shows and commercials, including spots for Coca Cola, as well as on television programs including The Maury Povich Show and The Man Show, which is disputed. 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. The incident became an international news story.
In March 2009, Charla Nash's family attorney filed a $50 million lawsuit against Sandra Herold. In November 2012, Nash reached a settlement with Herold's estate and received approximately $4 million.
Nash attempted to sue the state of Connecticut in 2013 but her claim was denied. She had asserted that officials knew the animal was dangerous but did nothing about it. Nash's petition to sue was denied on the basis that at the time of the attack, no statute existed that prohibited the private ownership of a chimpanzee. In July 2013, Nash's attorneys began efforts to appeal the court's decision.
The attack, similar to another chimpanzee attack four years earlier in California, provoked discussion about the logic of keeping such exotic animals as pets by sources such as Time magazine and primatologists Jane Goodall and Frans de Waal.
Travis' escape and the subsequent attack of Charla Nash were used as part of the "Chimps" episode of the Animal Planet 2010-2011 documentary series: Fatal Attractions.
On May 28, 2011, Nash underwent transplant surgery performed by a team led by Bohdan Pomahač at Brigham and Women's Hospital, receiving a donated face and hands. The transplant of the hands was initially 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.
Socialization
Travis was born near Festus, Missouri on October 21, 1995, at Mike and Connie Braun Casey's compound, currently named the Missouri Chimpanzee Sanctuary. In a separate incident, Travis' mother Suzy was fatally shot following an escape in 2001. Sandra and Jerome Herold purchased Travis for $50,000 from a breeder after he was taken from his mother when he was three days old. They named the chimpanzee for Sandra's favorite singer, Travis Tritt. The Herolds 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 on their shopping excursions 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 as he wore a baseball shirt. Travis became well known in the town and had been known to greet police officers they would encounter when towing cars.
Having grown up among people, Travis had been socialized to humans since birth. A neighbor said he used to play around and wrestle with Travis. The neighbor added that the animal always knew when to stop and paid close attention to his owner. "He listened better than my nephews," the neighbor remarked after Travis had mauled Nash. "I just don't know why he would do that."
Travis could open doors using keys, dress himself, water plants, feed hay to his owners' horses, eat at a table with the rest of the family, and drink wine from a stemmed glass; he 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. He enjoyed watching baseball on television. Travis had also driven a car on several occasions.
Jerome died from cancer in 2004, and the Herolds' only child died in a car accident in 2000; as a result, Sandra Herold regarded Travis almost as a surrogate son and pampered him. Sandra slept and bathed with Travis, saying after his death, "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."
Influence on legislation
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal noted that a defect in the existing 2004 Connecticut law prohibiting chimpanzees of Travis' 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 officers to report such pets to the agency. The editorial board of The Advocate newspaper in Stamford also supported banning the possession of all exotic birds and reptiles.
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. 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, and the editorial boards of several major newspapers, including The New York Times and Newsday, supported its passage. The bill was never taken up by the U.S. Senate.
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 a police officer's compensation for mental or emotional impairment after using justifiable deadly force to kill an animal.
See also
In Spanish: Travis (chimpancé) para niños
