IF you thought TV’s Tiger King was a wild ride, wait until you see Chimp Crazy.
The new docu-series has it all — a missing Hollywood ape, a showbiz appeal to find him, a suspected elaborate hoax and a court battle between animal charity Peta and an exotic pet breeder who calls herself the “Dolly Parton of chimpanzees”.
Both brought to us by director Eric Goode, this latest Sky show examines the mysterious disappearance of primate Tonka, who has starred in movies including Babe, Pig In The City, George Of The Jungle and 1997’s Buddy, with actor Alan Cumming.
And it is set to give Tiger King — which lifted the lid on the feud between Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic — a run for its money, with its many twists and turns already captivating viewers in the States.
Chimp Crazy follows the story of Tonia Haddix, a blonde cosmetic surgery fan who initially works for breeder Connie Casey at the Missouri Primate Foundation, caring for seven apes in tiny, filthy cages.
Mother-of-two and grandmother Haddix admits to loving the animals more than her kids and says she skipped school events to stay at home with the chimps.
Comparing them to human children, she says: “You can shape them into you. They don’t grow up and get a mind of their own.
“They don’t break your heart. They’ll be your friend for life.
“I’m sorry, but there is nothing like monkey love. It is so empowering. You become their mother. It’s like your love for God.”
But with no training or formal qualifications, Haddix soon attracts the attention of Peta — People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals — who are already investigating the conditions at the foundation.
In July 2021, during filming, Peta wins a court order to move the chimps to an outdoor sanctuary for a better life — with Haddix ordered to stay at least two miles away.
But on the day welfare chiefs turn up to confiscate the animals, one is missing and the real drama begins.
Film star Tonka — aged 38 and weighing at least 14st — had apparently suffered a stroke and is seen on film visibly distressed in his small cage, throwing himself against the metal bars.
Haddix feeds him chicken nuggets despite her claim he has an enlarged heart. Yet he’s the ape she is closest to. And when she claims he mysteriously died the day before Peta arrived to take him away, nobody believes her.
Even Scots actor Alan Cumming — known for his roles in GoldenEye and The Traitors US — gets involved, as he fell in love with Tonka while making family film Buddy.
You can shape them into you. They don’t grow up and get a mind of their own
Tonia Haddix
He recalls: “Every morning I’d walk on set and he’d be so excited to see me. He’d run and leap into my arms. It was magical. My understanding of what happened after his Hollywood career ended is that he retired to Palm Springs.
“That’s what I was told. So every time I went to Palm Springs, I kind of expected to bump into him!
“Then Peta said they’d found this place in Missouri where chimps were kept in very poor conditions, and that one of them was Tonka.
“They showed me a picture of him in this indoor cage looking depressed, which was very upsetting.
“What I now realise is that once they’ve done their “thing” in showbusiness, anyone can buy them and they can end up in roadside circuses and so on.”
Cumming joined the Peta campaign to find Tonka, offering $10,000 for information leading to his safe return. The star is seen on film saying: “I hope he is alive. But if he is, where the f*** is he?
“I just hope Tonka can have the retirement that I thought he was going to have.”
Chimpanzee ownership is legal in some US states despite the fact the animals can be highly dangerous.
The series revisits some of the devastating attacks involving the animals, such as the one on Charla Nash, who was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey after a chimp called Travis bit off her face in 2009.
Charla was a friend of Travis’s owner Sandy Herold, who was so close to her chimp that the pair used to bathe together.
Yet despite the danger, many “chimp moms” continue to get close to the primates.
One, Pamela Rosaire, who has bought chimpanzees from Tonka’s breeder Connie Casey, even admits to breast-feeding one of her pets.
She says: “Years ago, I had a baby chimp born two months premature. Premature chimps can’t digest formula, but I’d just had my daughter, Dallas, so I did what came naturally. He’s a baby that needs feeding, so feed it.”
Premature chimps can’t digest formula, but I’d just had my daughter, Dallas, so I did what came naturally. He’s a baby that needs feeding, so feed it.
Rosaire’s husband Roger isn’t quite so relaxed about the situation. He says: “One day she’s got Dallas on one booby and a chimp on the other. I say, ‘Woah, what are you doing?’.” Now grown up, Dallas recalls: “We were like brother and sister. The moment a boy liked me, he’d throw poop at him. I can’t imagine life without him.”
Peta has made repeated failed bids to stop exotic pets being bred.
They got involved with Tonka after a whistleblower provided footage suggesting conditions in which he and six other chimps were kept breached the Exotic Animal Act.
Peta lawyer Jared Goodman says: “These chimpanzees were being kept in very barren cages, sitting in their own waste, and this was frankly unlawful.” At first, Peta asks Haddix to improve the primates’ living conditions. But when they feel she has not complied, they apply for the order to take them away.
As Goodman and Haddix go head to head during filming of Chimp Crazy, the relationship deteriorates to such an extent that Haddix tries to run over Goodman.
She admits that she regularly checks Facebook to see if Jared’s wife has left him, as well as calling him “a pr*ck”.
Several jaw-dropping moments ensue as Peta tries to catch Haddix out. First, she provides them with written “evidence” from an “independent” source that Tonka has died of natural causes and been cremated at home.
But welfare chiefs claim that’s not possible AND it appears the papers have been signed by Haddix’s husband.
Later, Peta gets hold of a text from Haddix sent after Tonka vanished that implies she may be hiding him, which she denies.
Footage also shows Haddix giving online court evidence as a baby kangaroo in a nappy hops around and she sobs hysterically when asked about Tonka’s death.
The judge later reveals it is his “belief Ms Haddix makes things up”.
He adds: “I want to know, is Tonka still alive? Based on evidence I have heard today, I cannot say.”
So is Tonka gone forever, or will authorities find the missing chimp?
