Local Expert Talks About Chimp Attack

"Once they get inspired and fired up like that... it's very difficult to calm them down!" said Terry Wolf, Wildlife Director at Lion Country Safari.

After hearing about the brutal attack by Travis the chimpanzee, the experts at Lion Country Safari, in West Palm Beach, were quick to emphasize what they have been saying for years...

"There's a terrific lack of respect for this endangered species, by the way... chimpanzees are endangered" said Wolf.

Endangered... and not meant to be pets!



Folks like Terry Wolf, Wildlife Director at Lion Country, have been begging the movie and TV industries for years not to portray chimpanzees as cute and cuddly... they are in fact, wild and powerful animals.

"A 200 pound chimpanzee has the equivalent strength of the Miami Dolphins offensive line... so if you can hold off five Miami Dolphins offensive linemen... you can hold off that chimp." said Wolf.

Terry explains that chimps share ninety-nine percent of the same DNA as humans and when they are babies (like the ones you usually see in commercials) they are much more well behaved... but as they get older they are more and more likely to get into trouble.

Because chimps don't talk it's hard to say why one might attack... but it could be something very simple that we humans do everyday.

"It could be the slightest thing, like a look. A look to a chimpanzee if everything, since they don't vocalize things... you can't rationalize with them, by explaining things to them.. but if you look straight in the eye... to them that's aggression... you might as well of poked them with a stick." said Wolf.

Experts say the bottom line is that, although they look and act like us, it is a much more humane and safer existence for them to be with their own kind.

"They can be positively reinforced, they do understand what love is... but they very definitely understand what dominance is... and when we come into their space... we're a threat." said Wolf.

reported by Glenn Glazer for WPTV.com