Chimp Crazy

Right off the bat the most shocking thing about this documentary is the way these people feed their pet chimpanzees - McDonald's Happy Meals, ice cream, donuts, Gatorade - wow. I get wanting to give your pet a treat but no wonder Tonka was overweight when he was rescued. It can't be healthy for a wild animal to eat things like sugar and processed fast food.

But it just serves as an example to show you how ignorant these people are, they're not trained animal handlers or vets or wildlife specialists. It's honestly a little creepy how much these women love primates, to the point of obsession. I've always thought chimps were ugly so I don't get the appeal at all, especially knowing they can rip your face off on a whim once they get past the age of five.

Ignore the bad reviews. Probably an honest 7.5 rating, but, unfortunately, misguided "one" ratings need to be balanced in the equation.

This series does not glorify exotic animal ownership. Quite the opposite, in fact. The docu-series exposes what's wrong with owning primates, and sheds some needed light on some of the truly unhinged people that own (or want to own) them. In NO way does it advocate for owning chimps.

It's a natural follow-on to "The Tiger King", with a "colorful" main character, who thinks PETA is the problem. Exotic animals are beautiful, and compelling in many ways, but in no way should they be brought into people's homes and treated like pet or family members. If you are an animal lover, and enjoyed "The Tiger King", this series warrants a look.

... and I am so every time, it is, and should be, the default. You can see even my signin on is the genus for the whale known as orca - I AM an animal person, a 'non-human' person - so it's difficult for me to review a documentary on the treatment of animals and do so unbiased or merely to look solely at the technical merits of the docuseries and not the subject of the docuseries - which is the treatment of these chimpanzees.... or is the subject, the humans that captivate, care and grow to love them? Emphasis on the 'captivate' - but granted they DO love, I mean LOVE them and I get it, I do - I really do

I want to say that I truly believe that there are situations, where on occasion the welfare of the animal and the desires of a humans like Tonia, correspond, and I'm all but certain that she means all the best and wants all the best for her primate cousins - however.... ya However, ULTIMATELY it's definitely in the best interests of the animals (and ultimately the humans as well as CERTAINLY the environment and ecosystems of the planet) that PETA's ideology and tactics win the day - I understand that's harsh to suggest, to say that Tonia, who has ostensibly given her time torwards the betterment of these primates, as it relates to thier (and hers) immediate 'wants' and shortsighted needs but sheesh... We have to, now (more than ever and forever more) no longer function 'shortsightedly' - and yes I do realize that when an organism is born within and to captivativity - new fascists are created as to what's 'best' or even 'possible' for the individual and it's a very difficult catch-22, however and again we as the captors and the SELF PROCLAIMED "dominant" species of earth, SELF PROCLAIMED 'superior' species of earth - must not continue to behave shortsighted - we know better let's BEHAVE better, let's behave SELFLESSLY

Please, I IMPLORE YOU - and to Tonia and others , I say 'I'm so very sorry for your loss, your losses and your grief - ironically I'm filled with the same empathy torwards you as am I to the chimps - I don't want you to hurt either - I hope that you can come to peace with this and that you can find a suitable compromise where you can still visit with your loved ones (and I know they are 'loved ones') but try and do so as inhumanely (and i know that sounds like I should mean 'humane' but the definition of 'humane' is to 'act or behave like a human' and to me, that has always meant 'selfishly' as to what's best for the individual) and to do so with the most farsight as you can muster - and thank you for all of your efforts - I KNOW you mean well :)

When I seen Eric Goode had done another documentary, as much I "loved" tiger king. As much it was more for the human drama side. I enjoyed the animal side of it. And all I felt was pity for them.

I'm left feeling peoplecthat take part in those exotic animal ownership have deep routed issues beyond having something that relies on you. And it makes me sad these animals are pretty freely available for them to project this onto.

This doc in the first half made me think maybe she is doing right he won't survive in a new group but the more you watch you realise how inhumane she's actually being to poor Tonka. You see the sadness in his eyes, from his jail cell she calls his home.

I thought it done a good job on the undercover journalism side and the professionals side. It gave it from both points of view and allowed her story to be shared. But ultimately the correct thing was done.

Could have cried at Tonkas new lease of life.

The other featured controversial stories were eye opening.

So it wasn't biased it showed all angles....

I've came out with the view it is wrong. They are not "children" not for "entertainment".

"Chimp Crazy" made me feel all the emotions - happiness, sadness, anger. I have a lot of mixed feelings about how this docuseries was presented to the viewers. I don't know who their target audience was and who you were supposed to be rooting for during the short span of 4 episodes. There were valid arguments from both PETA and Tonia Haddix, addressing their concerns to of why Tonka should be placed in a sanctuary vs being kept confided in a small room.

Aside from the protagonist (Tonia or PETA?) there is a bigger picture to be seen here - people should NOT own exotic pets. HOWEVER, this is a two sided coin I think. On one side you have obvious exotic animals who just cannot be domesticated and will forever have animalistic instincts/behaviors, and in the other side you have humans who have had said exotic animals since they were babies. So I think there is a valid argument for both sides - one being: everyone and their mother owns a dog. Dogs can rip your face off, just like a chimp can. But dogs have become domesticated and not everyone owns a chimp. If you have a 200 pound dog there comes a point where that dog cannot be controlled. If it wants to one day kill your baby sitting in its stroller, it'll do it. But it's LESS likely than a chimp.

This show is an eye opener for the exotic pet world and at times was honestly hard to watch. I think both sides were pretty narcissistic. I couldn't stand the attorney for PETA (Goodman) you can tell that dude is a prick. I agree with Tonia that PETA is not for the animals well being always. The way they manipulate the situation to make her out to be some evil pos monster was absolutely disgusting. Tonia I think has some mental health issues but she loved that damn Chimp. So I'm a bit torn on all of it. She clearly didn't learn her lesson once you find out what happens in the last 5-10 minutes of episode 4.

Hard to watch but it's a good watch. Pretty educational as well.