Drug-crazed celebrity chimp is stabbed and shot to death after he mauled a woman and attacked police officers
By Paul Thompson
Last updated at 9:47 PM on 17th February 2009
A pet chimpanzee which once starred in TV commercials has been shot dead by police after mauling a woman and injuring two police officers.
Travis, who weighed 14 stone, had been raised like a child by his owner Sandra Herold.
The 15-year-old, who appeared in several TV adverts including one for Coca Cola, was potty trained and could log on to a computer, brush his teeth, dress himself, drink wine from a glass, and use the TV remote to change channels. Friends said Mrs Herold, 70, treated him as her son.
But when a family friend called at her home, in Stamford, Connecticut, he suddenly went beserk.
Mrs Herold, a widow, had phoned Charla Nash after Travis,who had been unsettled, snatched keys from the kitchen table, unlocked a door and let himself into the garden, police said.
She tried to lure him back inside, but failed, so she asked Mrs Nash, who knew Travis well, to help.
But as Mrs Nash stepped from her car, the chimp pinned her to the floor and began mauling her face and hands.
Mrs Herold tried to pull Travis off but was no match for him. She called police, grabbed a knife and stabbed her pet several times.
'Sandra is 70 and a 200lb chimpanzee is much, much stronger than a 200lb human
being,' said a police spokesman.
When officers and paramedics arrived, Travis bolted into woodland.
Police formed a protective cordon around Mrs Nash, who was bleeding heavily - but paramedics were too afraid to treat her as the animal was still on the loose.
Suddenly Travis returned. He smashed a wing mirror of a police car with a swipe of his arm, then ran round to the driver's side, opened the door and attacked.
The trapped officer drew his service revolver and shot the animal several times.
Mortally wounded, Travis limped away to his playroom where he crawled back in his cage and died.
Following the attack, Mrs Nash, 55, is fighting for her life in hospital. Authorities said most of her face had been ripped away. She is also reported to have lost all of her fingers as they were so badly bitten.
Paramedic Bill Ackley, who treated her at the scene, said: 'I've been doing this a long time and have never seen anything this dramatic on a living patient.'
Mrs Herold is believed to have had a mild heart attack but the extent of the two officers' injuries are not known. The officer who shot Travis is said to be traumatised.
The chimp, which had appeared on a U.S. chat show, and in adverts for clothing store Old Navy, was well known in Stamford.
He often rode in the trucks belonging to Herolds' towing company. 'He's been raised almost like a child by this family,' said Captain Richard Conklin, of Stamford Police.
'He rides in a car every day, he opens doors, he's a unique animal in that aspect. We have no indication of what provoked this behaviour.'
Police said no charges are expected. But animal experts have been called in to try and find out what caused the sudden change in behaviour.
Mrs Herold told officers that Travis was being treated for Lyme disease and his medication could have played a part.
She added that Mrs Nash had changed her hairstyle. The chimp may have thought she was an intruder and was protecting his owner, it is thought.
Mrs Herold, who had a licence to keep Travis, had previously claimed he was completely domesticated. 'He loves baseball. He likes anything with action. If I cry, he'll lick my tears,' she said.
Her neighbour Tom Kennedy said: 'I've never seen anyone take such good care of an animal. She loved him.'
