This celebrity chimpanzee mauled a woman and tried to eat her alive

Although it has been more than a decade since this horrifying incident, it’s still chilling to recount the 911 call that shook everyone. It was just another seemingly ordinary day for Charla Nash but she could have never imagined this would be the most devastating day of her life when she was devoured alive by a pet chimpanzee.

Travis, the celebrity chimp

Travis was adopted by his owners in Missouri, USA when he was only three days old. His mother was recently fatally shot when she was trying to escape. The owners treated the baby chimp as their own child and spoiled him rotten.

According to Express due to his lifestyle with humans, he soon learned their mannerisms and even learned how to drive, operate a computer and drink wine from a stemmed glass. He became a local celebrity and got along very well with their neighbours. He gained so much popularity that he was featured on TV several times, including in a Pepsi commercial.

Things started to change when one of his owners died and the wife of the owner became close to the chimp. However, everything changed on February 16, 2009, when the owner made a chilling phone call to the police screaming for help as her chimp started attacking her friend and ‘eating her alive'.

The chilling attack

As reported by The Sun, Charla Nash was called by the owner, Sandra Herold, when Travis the chimp startedshowing erratic behaviour. When Charla came over, Travis became uncontrollable and started attacking them. Sandra escaped to the safety of her car while Charla suffered the devastating attack. The attack left her with lacerated hands and without lips, nose, eyes and a completely disfigured face.

Sandra called the emergency services screaming for help. Upon arrival, the police shot the chimp dead and rushed Charla to the hospital where she was barely clinging to life. Although the doctors managed to save her, the gruesome attack left her blind and disabled for the rest of her life.

Inspiration for a movie?

The incident gained worldwide popularity. In fact, there have been speculations that Jordan Peele may have been inspired by this very story while creating a scene in his latest horror film, Nope.

Although nothing has been officially confirmed, the director himself might have foreshadowed this scenario in his film when he tweeted this:

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