In HBO’s docuseries Chimp Crazy, the minds behind the COVID-19 pandemic sensation Tiger King turn to another exotic animal.
At the center of the series is Tonia Haddix, the “Dolly Parton of chimpanzees. “Haddix’s bond with his favorite chimpanzee, Tonka, goes beyond the typical human-pet dating: He treats Tonka like his son, sharing McDonald’s satisfied foods and scrolling to Instagram, at the bars of a cage.
The story begins with the break up of the Missouri Primate Foundation, where Haddix served as a volunteer caretaker. When a fellow volunteer exposes the foundation’s cruel conditions, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) intervenes, closing it down and relocating the chimps to true sanctuaries. But Tonka is nowhere to be found.
Haddix insists that Tonka died in a while before the rescue operation. But without any evidence of your request, suspicion develops. What begins as a presentation evolves in a mystery of murder: what really happened to Tonka? Could you remain alive, hidden from the authorities?
As the confrontation between Haddix and Peta intensifies, Chimp Crazy raises larger moral and legal issues: Should animals with almost human intelligence degrees in captivity? Does the documentary maker have to interfere with suffering?
Katarina Hall is the main editor of people on reason.
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