Chimp Victim Has 'Long Way to Go' After 7-Hour Surgery

FOXNews.com ^ | Thursday, February 19, 2009 | Associated Press

[chasio649]

She voted for the ONE?

[netmilsmom]

>>Yes... vicious little bastards aren’t they?<<

They ARE!

[Cap'n Crunch]

Isn’t it amazing that the people who blame the victim always blame somebody else when something happens to them? “I had a rough childhood” “I’m the victim, it’s not my fault”... It is sickening.

[spetznaz]

Both eyes, nose, and jaw lost to the animal, from what I read elsewhere. A chimp is like a 190 pound pitbull that can open doors.

Some other FReeper mentioned that they'd rather own a tiger or a lion, and I have to agree. Large cats can be more or less domesticated if reared from when they were cubs (and not used for circus acts ala Sigfried and Roy), as can be seen by cases like the Adamsons (although there are major risks that make owning such powerful animals dangerous, such as them attacking strangers ....allegedly the Adamsons lost a worker to a leopard, which unlike lions do have ...well ...'tempers').

However, a chimpanzee is GUARANTEED trouble. They have a range of emotions that are basically 'human,' including things like jealousy and anger. A lion, like an attack dog, can be territorial ...but it will not attack you out of jealousy (like the case of a chimpanzee that savaged two people when another received cake and it did not). A chimp is simply an accident that will happen, while a large cat is an accident that will probably happen. Owning either is stupid, but if you held a gun to my head and forced me to make a choice that would be the easiest decision of my life ...I'd take the large jungle-cat any day of the week.

A chimp is like a spoilt teen with emo tendencies, a major streak of envy, and to top it all around 6 times the strength of a human (yes, 6 times the strength of an adult human male). That is why they are able to literally rip arms from people using their strength alone.

As they grow older, particularly males, they get grumpy and easily aggitated. When that happens it is just a matter of time before something goes wrong, and it will go wrong .

At least with a lion there is a good chance nothing will go wrong, and if it does at least you will receive a relatively quick death. A large cat giving you a thoraxic bite will have you dead very quickly. With a chimpanzee ...well, anything from arms ripped off, to faces bitten off, to genitals torn off, and any one of a number of nasties that only primates can think of.

Thus, a lion will probably never harm you (unless you are one of those circus wannabes), and if it ever does, one swipe and it is St Peter's for ya. A chimp WILL definitely, guaranteed, harm you or one of your friends or family, particularly as it ages and becomes more easily agitated. You'll either hug your spouse too long, or give your kid too much fruit, or whistle a tune when it wants to sleep, etc etc. The trigger does not matter, what matters is that it will happen, and when it does someone will pay a gruesome bill.

Suffice it to say, if you want a pet there are PLENTY of cats and dogs looking for homes. There is no need to get jungle fever and try to have lions and chimps when there are so many cats and dogs looking for a good home and care!

However, if one is stupid enough to try and do the whole 'Tarzan-at-home' course, then they'd better know that in the hierachy of dangerous animals to keep, a chimpanzee should be the one that is dead-last on their list. Sure, they are cute when young, but when adult you will have something that is 6 times as strong as you are, and that will become more and more grumpy as it ages. Not a nice combination for a creature that is moodier than a pms-ing DUmmie on a Bush-rant, and with the strength to rip your head clean off!

If you want an 'exotic' pet, get a greyhound or a mainecoon. Any more exotic than that and it may very well be your @$$!

[Ditter]

Oh God! I had not heard that! Face and eyes gone, what about her hands, are those gone too? I would rather have died during the attack.

I have a friend who volunteers at the zoo, her specialty is the primates. I hope she is taking all this in.

[ko_kyi]

“If you want an ‘exotic’ pet, get a greyhound or a mainecoon. Any more exotic than that and it may very well be your @$$! “

I couldn’t agree more. People that keep undomesticated species have a screw loose, and the unpredictability of the apes make them completely unsuitable.

[calex59]

Chimps typically bite the hands off an opponent. They go for the face and eyes, and bite off the fingers of the hands(their fighting is geared toward fighting other primates), because they know the other chimp/human/whatevercan't fight back without fingers. They also know that the genitals of a male are a very vulnerable spot and will use their feet to grab and rib them off. They are very vicious, will hunt and kill other primates for food when in the wild and male chimps will kill their own young and eat them, the females have to protect the young from the males. They have been known to steal children in Africa and eat them also.

If you ever get a chance read some of Jane Goodall's studies on chimps.

[Ditter]

I talked to my friend who volunteers in the primate section of the zoo. She says she doesn't have any contact with the animals, which made me wonder exactly what it is she does out there. LOL

[Mr Rogers]

“Large cats can be more or less domesticated if reared from when they were cubs (and not used for circus acts ala Sigfried and Roy), as can be seen by cases like the Adamsons (although there are major risks that make owning such powerful animals dangerous, such as them attacking strangers ....allegedly the Adamsons lost a worker to a leopard, which unlike lions do have ...well ...’tempers’).”

Actually, one of the lions used in Born Free - Boy - killed one of the workers. George Adamson shot the lion, but not in time to save the guy.

I have a lot of respect for someone whose advice on charging lions and other wild animals was, “Don’t shoot until they are within 10 feet” - but am saddened that his main reaction was to regret the death of Boy, not the man.