The 1997 film "Buddy" tells a touching story between a man and an animal.
An animal lover female socialite has built a small zoo in her home, and she has four orangutans, one of which is called Buddy.
She treats Buddy as her own child and takes care of him, but Buddy is still wild and yearns for the forest, and in the end, she has to release Buddy back into ......
(Buddy with the lead actor)
In the movie, Buddy is able to get back to nature.
But in reality, Tonka, the chimpanzee who plays Buddy, lives the opposite life......
Recently HBO aired a documentary about Tonka about its bumpy first half of its life.
（纪录片《CHIMP CRAZY》）
IT IS WORTH MENTIONING THAT THE PRODUCTION TEAM OF "CHIMP CRAZY" IS THE TEAM OF THE POPULAR NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY "TIGER KING" PRODUCED TWO YEARS AGO.
This time, they found the same genre again, presumably to replicate their previous success, and this time, they changed the fate of Tonka, a chimpanzee.
(Tiger King)
Tonka comes from an organization called the Missouri Primate Foundation.
This foundation was formerly a pet store owned by Connie · Cathy.
This shop is very unusual, selling all kinds of rare wild animals, after all, wild animals are obviously much more valuable than cats and dogs.
In 1972, the owner, Cathy, bought two chimpanzees for breeding.
Newborn chimpanzees are sold for $4 to $65,000, and if they can't, Cathy has started her own entertainment company that rents out young chimpanzees for use in children's birthday parties, nursing homes, and film and television productions, like Tonka.
Here, every chimpanzee is squeezed to the extreme......
(Orangutan in captivity)
In 1992, a chimpanzee that Cathy kept bit off her husband's nose, and because she was worried that it would not sound good, she packaged the pet store as an animal foundation and continued to sell orangutans.
In fact, Cathy's Animal Foundation has more than poked out this one basket.
In 2001, a 28-year-old chimpanzee she kept named Susie escaped and was shot dead by a 17-year-old boy who lived next door.
In 2009, an orangutan named Travis made headlines when he escaped and bit a woman before being shot dead by police.
(Travis)
In 2016, an employee of the Foundation secretly filmed the Foundation's animal cruelty before resigning because of his conscience, and sent it to an animal protection organization.
Animal protection groups then filed a lawsuit against Cathy and her foundation for violating the Endangered Species Act.
It just so happened that at this time, a customer named Tonya · Hardix came to the door, and she wanted to buy a chimpanzee. When she finds out that Cathy is struggling with a lawsuit, she offers to take over Cathy's foundation and the chimpanzees to help her get out of the lawsuit.
Therefore, in 2018, Hadix took ownership of the Foundation, and Tonka, a chimpanzee belonging to the Foundation, naturally became her possession.
(Tonka & Hardix)
At this time, Tonka was already an adult.
It withdrew from showbiz and was transferred to the Foundation's farm as a breeder.
Tonka is Hadicks' favorite orangutan.
So when the police took over the feedlot, they couldn't find Tonka at all. Faced with police questioning, Hadix insisted that Tonka was dead and cremated by her.
But what Hadix didn't know was that the documentary team had long since disguised themselves as her supporters, pretending to help her shoot a documentary "calling for the privatization of orangutans", and lurked around her openly.
(Documentary filmmaker Goode)
The film crew discovered that Tonka was not actually dead, but was hidden by Hadwicks.
Once they got acquainted with Hadix, she even took the initiative to share with the film crew how she smuggled Tonka home and hid her in a cage in her basement for a year.
But hiding it like this is not a way to do it after all.
When Hadix consulted with her team (with the film crew), the lawyer gave her an idea that she could kill Tonka and put the whole matter to an end......
(Hardix who looks glamorous on the outside)
It didn't take long for the crew to receive a call from Hardix.
She said Tonka was very sick and that she had made an appointment with a veterinarian to euthanize Tonka.
The call left the film crew in a moral dilemma.
Because as a documentary film crew, their most important credo is not to interfere with the development of the story, but to faithfully record everything that happens. But now a life is in front of them, is it loyal to humanity or loyal to the profession?
"Are we going to report her? Or do you want to keep following the whole story? ”
Eventually, the film crew reported Haddicks' plan to the animal protection organization and informed Tonka of the location where he was hiding.
(Tonka locked up in the basement)
On June 5, 2022, federal marshals came to Hardix's home and took Tonka away.
The veterinarian found that Tonka did not have any serious medical problems, and that he was just somewhat overweight, as Haddics often fed him McDonald's Happy Meals.
In addition, it has become a little pale because of its long stay indoors, but it is healthy enough that it should not be euthanized at all.
Eventually, Tonka was transferred to Save the Chimpanzees in Florida.
The group has a 150-acre reserve in Fort Pierce, Florida, where 222 chimpanzees who have been kept in captivity since childhood.
Now Tonka can join the bandwagon.
(Save the Chimpanzee)
Haddick has repeatedly expressed concern about the way animal protection organizations are handling.
She said that Tonka was not so much a chimpanzee as an "ape", and that he could not live like a chimpanzee because he had interacted with humans since he was a child and ate food given by humans.
As it turns out, though, Hardix doesn't really know Tonka.
Tonka's breeders say it is performing very well and has adapted well to living with its own kind.
In fact, the vast majority of captive chimpanzees are closer to humans when they first arrive in the reserve, but if they have the opportunity to spend time with their own people, they will become more and more fond of their own kind and eventually choose to live in nature.
(Orangutan family in the reserve)
Tonka was quarantined for 60 days, during which time primatologists at the sanctuary carefully observed his behavior and helped him find the best fit for his orangutan.
Eventually, it was sent to a 3-acre island with rolling hills, climbable structures and 16 other chimpanzees.
After being sent to the island, the keepers also prepared a comfortable room for Tonka with a hammock and blankets.
But instead of going to the room that humans had prepared for it, it went to the rain and sat quietly, letting the rain drench its body, as if experiencing this hard-won freedom.
（Tonka）
Today, Tonka's life is very happy.
The goal of the sanctuary is for the chimpanzees to live as close to the wild as possible, allowing them to roam freely and join large social groups and even develop hierarchical societies, the keepers say.
Tonka doesn't seem interested in family rankings, though, but he gets along well with the other two chimpanzees in the group. Later, it was discovered that the two chimpanzees, who had a good relationship with Tonka, were actually his long-lost biological sons......
In other words, can the orangutan society be able to be so eight-o'clock?
（Tonka）
Another descendant of Tonka is a chimpanzee bred by Elvis Presley impersonators who lives on another island in the reserve. Keepers speculate that there may also be descendants of Tonka among the orangutans in the reserve, who served as a breeder for a while.
Then again, maybe it's an occupational disease, maybe it's the immortality of the sword, but in short, Tonka has a pretty good relationship with the opposite sex on the island......
However, all male primates (excluding humans) in the reserve have undergone vasectomy, so at least Tonka will not be able to continue to "break the gap"......
（Tonka）
Today, Tonka spends her days in recreational activities specially designed by primatologists, including painting, playing with bubbles, and searching for foods such as frozen strawberries, beans and lettuce.
These activities are not only recreational, but also stimulate the physical, cognitive, and emotional development of chimpanzees.
Tonka has also now quit fast food and eats fresh fruits and vegetables every day.
Coupled with plenty of room to move, it didn't take long for it to lose excess weight and regain a healthy figure.
The breeder estimates that if all goes well, Tonka will live to be in his 60s!
（Tonka）
Save the Orangutans is not open to the public, but they host events three times a year that allow donors to enter the reserve and observe the orangutans from afar.
(The entire reserve is funded by donations, and it is estimated that the cost of adopting and caring for a chimpanzee is about $30,000 per year.)
The keepers estimate that these visitors have a good chance of seeing Tonka, as it is curious and likes to socialize with humans, but all this is of its own volition, and no one can force it anymore.
(Orangutans in the Sanctuary)
As for Haddicks, there is no news about her yet.
She is currently facing criminal charges and needs to repay the animal protection organization $225,000 in legal fees.
Now the whole thing has almost settled.
The bad guys are held accountable, the documentary team keeps their conscience alive, and the chimpanzees are redeemed.
Today, Tonka and the rest of the chimpanzees live a peaceful life, a life they deserve but are years late. I hope that with the help of humans, they can forget their troubles and enjoy the joy of freedom again......