Woman's life in danger after chimp attack

-- A woman has been hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a pet chimpanzee attacked her at a friend's home in Stamford, Connecticut, police said.
Travis is shown in 2003, when he escaped and "wreaked havoc" on the streets of Stamford, Connecticut.

Travis is shown in 2003, when he escaped and "wreaked havoc" on the streets of Stamford, Connecticut.
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Charla Nash, 55, had just arrived at her friend Sandra Herold's house when the chimp, named Travis, jumped on her and began biting and mauling her, causing serious injuries to her face, neck and hands, according to Stamford Police Capt. Rich Conklin, who said the attack was unprovoked.

Herold had called Nash to her house to help get 14-year-old Travis back inside after he used a key to escape.

While her friend was being attacked, Herold tried to pull the primate off her, but was unsuccessful.

She then called 911 before stabbing the chimp with butcher knife and hitting him with a shovel. Neither fazed Travis, who police said was like a child to Herold.

Stamford police later shot the chimp multiple times after he attacked an officer inside a police cruiser, Conklin said.

Travis returned to the house, where police later found him dead. Conklin estimated that Travis weighed close to 200 pounds.

The police captain also said this isn't the first interaction his officers have had with Travis; the chimp escaped in 2003 and "wreaked havoc" on the streets of Stamford for a couple of hours. Video Watch video of Travis from 2003 »
Don't Miss * WFSB: Friend stabs chimp to save woman's life

In 2005, a different chimp escaped from California's Animal Haven Ranch and chewed off a man's nose and genitals.

During an interview after that attack, wildlife expert Jeff Corwin told CNN's Anderson Cooper that chimpanzees are "absolutely powerful." Video Watch Corwin explain why chimps don't make good pets »
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"It's often said that an adult chimpanzee weighing in at 150 pounds is three to seven times stronger than a human being," Corwin said.

"The thing about chimpanzees is, we sort of look at them through our rose-colored cultural glasses of the cute little chimp in the 'Tarzan' movie. Those are very young chimps. Chimps grow up, they become very powerful. They are very complex in their behavior. They have a whole range of emotions, including violence and anger."

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[TaSteMyC00KYJAR]

were these white people?

if so, im not surprised...

[sarkazzII]

its not a race issue...lets not do that!

[quantumforce100]

Hey babe, down here in Orlando, there are people with gators, half-wolves, and rattlers as pets...what's worse, every now and then we hear about some little toddler "missing" after their parents let them swim in an alligator-infested pond...happens all the time and everybody knows it's a way to get rid of unwanted kids. It's the perfect crime, because there is no solid proof, so the hicks get away with it...you're right, what's wrong with these people...!

[sarkazzII]

wow!!!!....its a crazy world we live in...thanks for stopping by

[au7325]

He didn't recognize her b/c of her hairdo. WOW!! It boggles my mind when people have these wild animales as pets then they get surprised when they attack. I don't understand why they are trying to find a reason why he attacked her ITS A WILD ANIMAL THAT'S WHY!!

[sarkazzII]

smh....I dont know, but ...ppl seem to think they can tame any animal

[IrinaTIMG]

Agreed with you! So loved your video. I watched the whole story and I can't believe it....

[solsm08]

The lady is rite its a wild animal you can't domesticate an animal the animal has to domesticate it's self and that takes hundreds of not thousands of years

[KYLEJR222]

@CCDevlin What do you mean black americans are messing up the english language first off if you dont understand just dont respond to it second maybe us black americans dont want your dutch ass to understand because you are ignorant.

[Armaniwazhere]

@CCDevlin No its not black americans, because we didn`t come up with "LOL".. N maybe you don`t understand english as well as you think because if you did you would understand what she was saying.

[funtown101]

PREACH!!!! :D

[charlenemonique1]

I'm glad that my mother said NO back when I was too young to understand how dangerous those monkeys are.Plus I value my life and kinda like my damn face.

[shatheprodigy]

@quantumforce100 you win

[maddoxsmommie]

Amen!! ppl need to leave them wild ass animals alone. it is retarded to own a pet that is big as u and 5 times stronger!! u askin to get yo ass handed to ya!! peace

[ScottishPEACEguy]

the voice of reason. love from Scotland

[tobscad]

lol