In February 1999 my ex-husband (he worked at Hogle Zoo at the time) witnessed an attack of 2 chimpanzees on 2 keepers. Here is a link:
http://www.igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/1999/Salt_Lake_chimp_attack.htm
(I no longer worked at the zoo, however my ex-husband did and witnessed this)
Chip was the name of a mature chimp that resided at Hogle Zoo. I have seen Chip plenty of times and he DID NOT like most men (including my ex-husband). I had witnessed Chip become agressive several times when he would see my ex-husband approach the exhibit. His aggression usually was shown by throwing feces at the glass separating my ex and Chip, pounding the glass hard, screaming, and throwing things at the glass. He would do this to other men also that worked there.
There were 2 other chimps in the enclosure. A male (Cookie) and a female (forgot her name).
They had hired two young, inexperienced keepers to clean out the chimp exhibit. To do this, the chimps would go into a separate room/enclosure through a door that was in their exhibit. The door would be locked to keep the chimps in their holding room while the exhibit was cleaned. (they are smart and CAN and WILL open a door if it isn't locked).
The keepers were a guy named Jamie who had little or no experience with chimps and a girl (Jennifer?) who had very limited experience with chimps.
Chip seemed to like Jennifer (he had an eye for the ladies!) but he DID NOT like Jamie. He had shown aggression towards Jamie previously. Jamie had been warned to stay out of the chimp exhibit by the head keeper as everyone knew how Chip felt about Jamie.
On the particular day of the attack, the 3 chimps had gone into their holding area as usual to wait while their exhibit was cleaned. Jennifer was assigned to clean the exhibit. My ex-husband had said Jamie went into help Jennifer as it is a good sized exhibit. I do not know how the chimps got out of the holding room (there was an investigation and I do not know what they found). Whether the door wasn't locked, or they broke it, I don't know. Chip would have known that Jamie was in his exhibit as he would have been able to smell/see him.
Chip and the other male, Cookie, came bursting out of the holding room and attacked Jamie. They were trying to kill him. As Jamie was being attacked, Jennifer was screaming for them to stop. Jamie went so far as to run up to Chip and stuck her fist in Chip's mouth to try to get him to stop biting Jamie. Chip would grab her Jennifer's fist firmly and move it away from his mouth and then proceed to attack Jamie again. Neither chimp hurt Jennifer. I think she only had a few scratches. Jennifer, while screaming and in a panic, tried several times to put herself between the chimps and Jamie with the same result; the chimps would push her away gently but firmly and then go after Jamie again. They knew what they were doing.
Other keepers were finally able to get into the exhibit (this all happened very quickly) and somehow get the chimps off of Jamie. Chip and Cookie managed to escape and got into the kitchen area where they were both shot and killed.
It caused a huge controversy.
Jamie was in critical condition. He had his nose torn off, was missing 4 fingers and had multiple puncture wounds in his arms, legs and head from being bitten. He also suffered several broken bones. He was lucky to have survived.
Jennifer had a few scratches. She didn't require one single stitch that I am aware of.
My opinion. Chip was just waiting for his chance and he got it. I was sorry to hear Chip and Cookie were both killed. I do blame inexperience and lack of communication for this tragedy. I was also very sorry for Jamie. He was messed up and had a very long road to recovery and several surgeries. I don't know if they were able to salvage what was left of his fingers and face. He had to have several reconstructive surgeries and physical therapy.
One thing I will say. The chimps exhibit was indoors. Those chimps never got to go outside. They were basically in a huge room with a concrete floor, some tall fake trees, a little hay on the floor and a big window with faces peering at them all day.
Not much of a life, is it?
I know I would feel angry and frustrated if that is how I had to live also. They are so smart. They deserve better than that. I am not excusing what happened. But I think it all boils down to human error.
Jennifer put herself in harms way to try to help her friend. Chip and Cookie liked Jennifer and didn't want to hurt her. That says alot.
Sorry this was so long.
This is one of the reasons I hope they never capture the "big guy." I would be scared to death to come face-to-face with a bigfoot. Probably pee myself. They are too much like us. Maybe too smart for us too, eh? They don't belong in a zoo.
I am not even going to go into how I feel about circuses using animals in their acts! LOL
Don't get me started. Tell me to shut up now Lisa! lol
Rebecca
