|
See All Dates |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Travis (b. 1995[1] – February 16, 2009) was a male chimpanzee who starred in several American television commercials and appeared on television shows; he reached worldwide notice when he was killed after a sudden, vicious attack on a human being. Travis was 14 when killed. As an animal actor, Travis had appeared in several Domestication Travis was adopted by Sandra and Jerome Herold when he was three days old.[1] They raised Travis at their home on Rockrimmon Road in the North Stamford section of Stamford, Connecticut.[5] The Herolds owned a towing company and Travis would pose for photos at the shop and ride with the tow truck. Travis became well known in the town and had been known to like police officers.[5] The chimpanzee had been domesticated and was toilet trained, able to open doors using keys, could dress himself, watered plants, was able to feed hay to his owner's horses, ate at a table with the rest of the family, drank wine from a stemmed glass, logged onto the computer to look at pictures, use the internet, watched television using a remote control, and brushed his teeth using a Water Pik.[3][2] On television, he enjoyed watching baseball.[6] Travis had also driven a car on several occasions.[7] Jerome passed away from cancer in 2004, and their only child Incidents After the 2009 incident became an international news story, a woman who had lived in the same area as Travis claimed that in 1996 the chimpanzee had bitten her hand and tried to pull her into a vehicle as she greeted him. She claimed to have complained to the Heralds and to police.[8] 2003 Incident In October 2003, Travis escaped from the Heralds car and playfully held up traffic at a busy intersection for several hours.[9] The incident began when a young man threw something at the car that went through a half-open window and struck Travis while they were stopped at a traffic light. Startled, Travis unbuckled his seat belt, opened the car door and went after the man, but did not catch him. When police arrived, they lured the chimpanzee into the car several times only to have Travis let himself out of another door and occasionally chase the officers around the car.[5] The 2003 incident led to the passing of a Connecticut law prohibiting people from keeping primates weighing more than 50 pounds as pets and requires owners of exotic pets to apply for a permit. The new law took effect in 2004, and as of Travis' death, no one in the state had applied to own a chimpanzee. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection did not enforce the law on the Herolds | ||||
|