When a Chimpanzee Attacks

We have all seen the cute little chimpanzee's on commercials, sitcoms and elsewhere that seem to be almost human, one would never think that they could ever attack. Most chimpanzees that are kept as pets are thought of as children, not vicious animals. But in all reality chimpanzee's are animals and as with all wild animals that have been domesticated, a chimpanzee can revert to their primitive instinct. That is when a chimpanzee can and will attack!

Just ask the Stamford Connecticut woman who was attacked by a 14 year old, 200 pound chimpanzee on Monday. Travis the chimpanzee had been raised as a child, by his loving owner, yet for unknown reasons, the chimpanzee attacked his owners friend causing severe life altering injuries to her face and hands. The chimpanzee had to be killed, in order to stop the attack. Truthfully, the lady is lucky to be alive. When a chimpanzee attacks, it is with a viciousness that is unimaginable.

March of 2005, In Havilah, California a couple was viciously attacked by two chimpanzee's while visiting their 39 year old chimpanzee, Moe, that they had raised as their son. Moe had been placed in an animal sanctuary after attacking and biting a woman. As the two chimpanzees attacked, the man pushed his wife away and took the chimpanzee attack on himself. The chimpanzee's attack was brutal. The man lost all of his fingers (both hands), his eye, part of his nose, cheeks, lips and buttocks. His foot was mangled and the heel bone cracked. Again, the chimpanzee had to be killed to stop the attack.

One man was killed and two others severely injured when attacked by one of 27 chimpanzees that escaped from a Sierra Leone wildlife preserve, April of 2006, when a day of sight seeing turned deadly. A chimpanzee reportedly charged the car and ripped the side mirror off then leaped to the back of the car and bashed in the window. It came into the car and started attacking the people inside. One man lost half of his hand when the chimpanzee attacked, the other horribly disfigured, when the chimpanzee pulled him from the car. Sadly the driver was mauled to death by the attacking chimpanzee. This chimpanzee that attacked, escaped.

An adult male chimpanzee in the wild can reach a height of around 4 feet and weigh between 80 and 120 pounds, although a domesticated chimpanzee can weigh considerably more. Chimpanzee's can attack, kill and consume animals that are much larger in size than they are. A male chimpanzee has the strength in his upper torso, 5 to 10 times that of the average human. A chimpanzee has sharp canine type teeth, capable of ripping flesh with relative ease. Yet over 400 chimpanzee's are known to be kept as pets in the U.S. alone.

Sources:
Http://www.associatedpress.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/
http://www.foxnews.com/
http://www.guardian.co.uk