Comments on: 8 Chimpanzee Stars

By: Wanda Perry

Wanda Perry — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 05:20:40 +0000

It’s important to know that these chimps are BABIES, they would still be nursing their Mothers in the wild. Chimps do not belong in entertainment, the training takes it’s toll on them, the majority of trainers are mean and cruel. These little chimps want to climb trees, do somersaults, blow raspberries, acting is definately not part of their natural life. There is plenty of films and documentation to prove this. When they grow older, they are stronger, hard to handle.They are throw aways, in a sense. The next 40-50 years are spent in a cage alone, or in a medical research lab. I am glad that I learned about their abuse in entertainment. Maybe if enough of us do not go to the movies, circus, etc. that they are in, people will stop exploiting chimps this way. Besides, they are an endangered specie now.

By: Julia

Julia — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:27:21 +0000

The behind-the-scenes story on chimps in entertainment is very dark. Baby chimpanzees used for this purpose are taken away from their mothers at birth, causing irreversible psychological harm. In the wild, chimpanzees nurse until they are 4-6 years old, so you can imagine how important the mother-infant bond is for them. Chimpanzees are very strong (4-6 times stronger than the average human male!) and they cannot be trained by positive reinforcement alone, so trainers use physically and psychologically brutal methods to literally beat them into submission. By the time they are between 5 and 7 years old they become too strong to be dominated, and â€œretirementâ€ from entertainment usually means being cast off to a roadside zoo or other substandard facility â€“ sometimes even being sold to laboratories for biomedical research. Chimpanzees usually live to be in their 60s, so this kind of treatment means a long life of misery for them.

The Humane Society of the United States, the SPCA, the Jane Goodall Institute, and the Environmental Media Association, among countless other organizations, publicly oppose the use of great apes in entertainment. Also, many celebrities have spoken out against the use of chimpanzees in entertainment, including Pamela Anderson and Anjelica Huston. Anjelica Huston just did a Public Service Announcement about this subject, you can view it on You Tube by searching “Anjelica Huston great apes”

I highly recommend watching this PSA â€“ itâ€™s very short and I guarantee it will convince you that using chimpanzees for entertainment isnâ€™t cute or funny.

By: Melodye

Melodye — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:56:34 +0000

Is anyone else scared of monkeys?

By: Renee Walker

Renee Walker — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:32:12 +0000

Amy, Thank you for posting that. I donâ€™t think a lot of people realise that they are seeing babies!

Some of the training techniques are so brutal I can not make myself watch the tapes!

I hope that people will be encouraged to investigate this on their own and find out the facts for themselves!

Personally, I was shocked, appalled and dismayed that these practices still continue this day. Chimps should NOT be in show biz and we should not support film or television that takes babies away from their mothers and abuses them!
I support various animal preserves that are giving these former unwilling performers wonderful homes to live out the rest of their long, long lives!

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:55:56 +0000

I’m going to try not to go into a rant but I have a big point to make:

The chimps used in commercials or on tv are all babies. By age two they are stronger than a man and several years later they become very aggressive. As adults, they can get to be between 130-200 lbs. And at that point they are 6 times stronger than a man. What most people think of as chimps are babies, and when they see the adults they think they are gorillas.

By: Renee Walker

Renee Walker — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:37:05 +0000

I have quite the issue with Chimpanzees being used in commercials, television and movies in any way shape or form! Iâ€™m very glad that the CGI is to such a level that animals can now be created digitally; realistically and beautifully! Maybe now Chimps can be where they should be and be doing what they want to be doing rather than being forced to be â€œlittle humansâ€ for our amusement.

By: JohnW

JohnW — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:22:38 +0000

Speaking of aggressive behavior in chimpanzees, didn’t Cheeta have a “thing” for Johnny Weismuller? I seem to recall an interview where Maureen O’Sullivan (“Jane” in several movies) was talking about it. Two things I remember, the issue of covering up Cheeta’s “excitement” when he was near Weismuller so it wouldn’t be seen on camera, and the fact that Cheeta was jealous and would try to attack her if she got too near Weismuller.

By: stephW

stephW — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:20:41 +0000

Chimps can actually be rather agressive as adults. They are all cute when they are babies, but when they become juveniles, they don’t like doing tricks so much anymore. My anthro. professor did some grad work at University of Texas. He used to tell us this story (over and over again) about some guys that were roommates who decided it would be awesome to have a pet chimp (which is illegal in most states). Well the chimp grew up and since he was addicted to nicotine had to HAVE ciggarettes. Apparently, the guys were found out because the chimp would get really aggresive and throw feces if they did not give him ciggarettes.

By: Harold

Harold — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:30:23 +0000

If I remember correctly, wasn’t it at Cheetah’s birthday party that 2 other chimps went on a rampage and mutilated and elderly man? It seems that they didn’t get cake. (No, I am not making this up)
J.Fred Muggs and Today Show host Dave Garroway hated each other at first sight. Several times Garroway had to cover his hand on air after J. Fred had bitten him.
I know he’s not a chimp, but what ever happened to Clyde, the orangutan? He used to pal around with Clint Eastwood.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:29:50 +0000

http://www.whiplashrides.com/

C’mon, a monkey that wear a freakin’ cowboy hat and rides a dog? It doesn’t get any better than that, and yes, I love this country.