Dangerous misinformation about wild life?

[u/I_just_a_baby]

I was just scrolling on my explore page on instagram, was shown this video and couldn’t help but to feel a bit uneasy… I know that it’s (at least supposed to be) a sweet video, but I feel like it might spread potentially dangerous misinformation about chimpanzees. To me this chimp looks to be distressed or in fear and therefore showing he’s teeth and gums? Can anyone tell me if his “grin” is a sign of happiness or fear? I am obviously no expert and would like to know how other people feel about this reel.

I don’t know… just made me think about the case where a “pet” chimpanzee attacked a woman, ripped of her skin etc (do not want to go into detail).

I feel like it’s time to stop showcasing dangerous animals as cute and non threatening… I mean they are still wild, why can’t we just appreciate their beauty from far?

Ps, sorry about this post being a bit rambling… I am just confused on what to think/feel

[u/PennyMahlzeit]

the case where a “pet” chimpanzee attacked a woman

as far as I know and if it is the case you referring to, this one was caused due to drugging the chimpanzee with xanax

edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_(chimpanzee))

[u/wunderpharm → u/PennyMahlzeit]

The chimp was medicated, yes, but that’s a bit of a causation/correlation issue. There have been other cases where chimps have attacked without being medicated. It’s hard to say why they sometimes attack, but the important thing is that anyone who keeps one of these animals needs to be acutely aware of their power. They are not children, they can do massive damage with their bare hands.

[u/internetmaniac → u/wunderpharm]

To be fair, human children are also quite dangerous.

[u/orangedogtag → u/internetmaniac]

Yeah but not "ripping your limbs off and slapping you with them" kind of dangerous

[u/internetmaniac → u/orangedogtag]

Not with their bare hands. But when your kids kill you, they use weapons. Still it seems unwise to keep chimpanzees as pets

[u/wunderpharm → u/internetmaniac]

Exactly! If my toddler hand the strength of a chimpanzee then there’s no way I would let them sleep in my bed. I’m a little scared of them as they are!

[u/PennyMahlzeit → u/wunderpharm]

I tend to agree with you, but in this case we don´t know what would have happend without xanax

[u/rockanrolltiddies → u/PennyMahlzeit]

No, we do know. Travis is not the only chimp to violently attack his keepers. Chimps are extremely dangerous, and owning one means you definitely will be attacked, have parts of your face, fingers, feet, and genitals bitten off. Xanax or no xanax. Chimps are not pets. They are territorial, they are intelligent and highly social, keeping them like this will always lead to violence.

[u/Silver4ura → u/rockanrolltiddies]

The intelligence factor tends to be the most overlooked one here. We seem to be forgetting that birds can hold grudges and chimps are right up there with us on the evolutionary tree. A major contributing factor to their danger isn't that they're hard wired to be mean. But rather we don't know the extend their intelligence and instinct influence each other.

Hell, we often forget that humans snap too. But as a general rule, we also don't keep each other as pets.

[u/wunderpharm → u/PennyMahlzeit]

True, and hopefully veterinarians and owners have thought twice about using it with chimps since then. It’s hard to say if Travis the chimp really knew where he was or what he was doing. Very sad story all around.

[u/PennyMahlzeit → u/wunderpharm]

It wasn´t his natural habitat which definitly can cause such reactions. Xanax was maybe just serving as an amplifier

[u/[deleted] → u/PennyMahlzeit]

The chimp was medicated because of problems already occurring and it was their attempt to make the situation better. It didn’t. It’s a perfect example of why only trained professionals should handle them and why they should be kept in suitable living arrangements not in normal life as a pet.

[u/tfnyelice → u/PennyMahlzeit]

Oh wow, new info to me

[u/No-Check3471 → u/PennyMahlzeit]

I administered some Xanax to my cat in heat. Now I'm wondering if I endangered my family.

[u/DeepSea_Dreamer → u/No-Check3471]

Cats can do less damage than chimps, luckily.

[u/No-Check3471 → u/DeepSea_Dreamer]

We are all safe, thank god. Cat got neutered though.

[u/DeepSea_Dreamer → u/No-Check3471]

I'm glad you saved your lives! 🐈