Chimp Crazy

I found this documentary hard to watch due to its overwhelming sadness and delusional ideology of those whom think it's acceptable to lock up and breed wild animals. How anyone can say they love these beautiful animals more than anything yet totally are unable to recognise that these animals are not PETS and locking them in cages dressing them up and feeding them happy meals is a total selfish narcissistic self serving and nothing to do with bettering any animals life! A lot of Americans seem to be obsessed with owning species that should NEVER be owned . Seems the US are not big on laws when it comes to wildlife protection.

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.

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.

... 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 :)

First off, I'm a dog owning omnivore & not a fan of a lot of PETA's nonsense. Renaming fish "kittens of the sea" & whatnot. "Vegan" leather is plastic garbage in a year.

HOWEVER... here we appear to be in 100% agreement. Plus I love Alan Cumming. He's really quite lovely in his passion about this particular case.

This woman should not EVER be allowed to own ANY kind of animal again, & ESPECIALLY not a primate of any kind. NOBODY should be allowed to own a chimp, orangutan or higher primate of that nature. Every single person shown owning one was genuinely mentally unwell. Willing to abandon their husbands, children, entire lives for their ape "child." They are completely disconnected from reality & enabled by their husbands, people around them, & lax/nonexistent federal laws.

The conditions these animals are kept in are so inhumane. Tonia flat-out lies & says Tonka had "free run" of several rooms that people ALSO had access to, plus large glass windows w/ no bars. Yet not once do we EVER see her interact with him without big bars between them because while she's delusional, she's not THAT stupid (though after episode 4... apparently she is).

Those involved with this show are also HUGE enablers as well for letting her get away with what she was doing for so long.

The show glosses over the fact that she pays for the chimps by trafficking other exotics & primates. Nobody who TRULY cares for animals would be a part of that. Seriously. That's absolutely awful.

This, like most "reality" programming, feels like exploitation of people who are stupid, desperate, lonely, narcissistic &/or mentally ill. Like a 21st century version of circus freak shows.

At least in this case it's the animals that "win" (the ones that don't die anyway) and wealthy white people that suffer in the end.