Travis The Chimp Victim Leslie Mostel-Paul Speaks To MSNBC (VIDEO)

It appears that Charla Nash wasn't Travis the Chimp's only victim. Nash now lays in a hospital bed without her eyes, nose and part of her jaw. Leslie Mostel-Paul told MSNBC's Contessa Brewer about her scary, but much much less dire interaction with Travis in 1996 when he "chomped down on her" hand. Mostel-Paul explains what happened and how the police reacted:


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Comments

[BOin08]

This woman is criminally negligent and no sympathy either for her friend who encouraged her unnatural relationship. Same for those parents who’s children are mauled by the family pit bulls. Easy solution: don't bring animals into your home that you can't take out with one punch. And if you do, don’t be surprised when they act like -duh-animals.

[RPOC]

Withou her eyes, nose and part of her jaw?

I can't fathom a worse fate. Poor woman.

200lb chimp, unteathered, un restrained.

Wow, what a terrible story.....period!

[SwingVoter]

This whole thing is sad. I really do feel for the woman who has just lost her identity. I don't think prosecuting the owner will deter others who want to keep wild beasts as pets. There is a likely-hood she will be scapegoated. You can't fault the authorities if they try to send the public a message.

[SwingVoter]

"He showed interest in me--I asked her if I could say hello.." what are we talking about here?

[steveRB]

The next comedy smash starring Will Ferrell.

[trixtah]

I'm at a complete loss as to why this is even a news story, and why it's been all over the media in multiple countries for a week. The chimp is a goddamned animal and it bit someone. Who the hell cares?

(Obviously, waaaaay too many people)

[scottfrommodesto]

It chewed off a lady's hands and eyes. That tends to get peoples' attention.

[RPOC]

Just ANOTHER terrible story. Makes you foret your 401 is in some rich guys swiss account

[pacunurse1]

trixtah, you are pretty cold hearted!! We all should care about what happens to our fellow man.
Your lack of compassion is frightning!!

[twlala]

Why do chimps always go for the face?

[steveRB]

Because they haven't mastered the art of sarcasm.

[fearwig]

Right, but they've figured out how to make HuffPost accounts. How else can we explain the comment boxes? What gives?

[londubh]

They go for genitals too. Chimps are wild animals and never ever should be made pets. They have 4-5 times the upper body strength of an adult human male. They will rip you apart and chomp on you.

[yosoyeldecider]

Chimps suck. Wait, I mean, they bite.

[robXdion]

This story makes me very angry at the owner and the passive enablers who allowed her to endanger lives because she was lonely. She tried to replace the companionship of her husband and daughter with a chimp she thought she could control and milk for income.

[paulalex]

Enough with the chimp already.

[davidhilton1]

seems to have replaced the octo-mom drama.

[JHam]

I feel terrible for the woman who was so brutally injured. I also felt terrible for the poor chimpanzee who was put in this position and may have been impaired by disease or medication, and who crawled back to its safe place to die from multiple gunshot. The "owner" bears the responsibility for both of these tragedies. Chimpanzees are complex and intelligent, and they also possess several times the strength of humans. It was arrogant and absurd for this person to think she could keep an adult male Chimpanzee in her home in a residential area. Chimpanzees need our protection and deserve our admiration; they do not need to be kept as pets.

[Mattie]

I agree, when the owner talked about stabbing it, and how it looked at her like it was asking "mama what are you doing" oh, what was so sad. The poor animal once again pays for the stupidity of a human. I knew the victim was in critical condition, I didn't know it had torn out her eyes. How absolutely horrifying, but I still feel so sorry for the chimp.

[ratitouille]

I agree. This is a tragedy on so many levels.

[GoldenGirl19]

Excellent! 100% truth!

[Macawmom]

All "exotics" should not be banned, just larger species, and those species should require licensing and inspections, like zoos. A very few hobbyists do better with exotics than zoos, and they should be allowed to keep them - but under the same regulations. Aquarium fish, parrots, and most reptiles are not going around attacking anyone and have been kept in captivity for thousands of years. It is already illegal to import wild parrots into the US - every legal baby parrot is captive-bred, and there are a lot of responsible owners and breeders out there. Most aquarium fish and many reptiles are captive-bred. A blanket law banning the ownership of anything except cats, dogs and livestock is not a good idea; instead, make it a law that bans certain species unless some rare circumstances are met, or better yet, ban ownership on an individual basis rather than setting up laws that will stop responsible owners and do nothing to prevent bad owners, like this one.

Life in the wild sounds wonderful, but the fact is that some species are only in existence due to hobbyists, such as the Haplochromines of Lake Victoria. They are pretty much extinct in the wild; however, they exist in the aquariums due to responsible breeders. Another big tsunami and certain parrots could be in real danger - fortunately, most are bred in captivity by knowledgeable breeders and zoos.

There's a huge difference between a great ape and a parrot, a neon tetra or a bearded

[JEdgarH]

What about other primates like those Capunchine monkeys that are trained to help humans? They help handicapped people and are also raised as pets and I hope they aren't banned because of this. Though they are monkeys, they are much smaller, lighter and much easier to control and many hobbiests and physically challenged people have success with them. Also, some cities ban ownership of animals like potbellied pigs--why? they don't go on rampages. I'm sure your average dog would do more harm than they would do, anything will bite, even children if you treat them badly, but I'm not talking about wild animals going on rampages here like chimps large cats, etc., that's a different story altogether. Of course, all potential hobbiest s and prospective pet owners should go through a screening process, we don't want these animals left out on the streets unwanted after a few months, but many "exotic" pet owners (i.e. not the dangerous wild ones) are responsible.

[blindjester]

"Though they are monkeys, they are much smaller..."

Chimps are apes. Monkeys are not. Very different. (Easiest sign: monkeys have tails.)

[melmoid]

These are wild animals. If one is stupid enough to keep them close, expect trouble. Of course mother nature is really getting pissed about our treatment of the earth, so we can expect more of this type of thing.

[OkieIntellectual]

People tend to forget that chimps are WILD animals. It does not matter how long this lady has owned the chimp or how long it has lived around humans. Domestication is not something that happens to individuals over a few years. It happens to a species and it takes generations.

[xansam]

wonder if her kid ever bit anyone? i am supposed to care about something that happened a decade ago? this woman and MSNBC are mmiillkkiinngg it.

[Just2stressed]

My sentiments exactly. She's seeking publicity and MSNBC is just as bad.

[franksters]

Another one who is missing the point. Duh.

[Cinnamonape]

Well like a child with massive canine teeth and 1000 lb/sq. inch bite force...other than that it's just the same.

[commonsense2]

I think you are missing a compassion chip. I have seen a show where a man's face got mauled at a refuge for these abandoned animals and his face no longer looked human. Chimps are incredibly strong. We have woman who is missing eyes, a nose, and part of her jaw.

Let me see a kid who is capable of that. If so, the parents must be feeding them steriods.

And this woman tried to warn people years ago. How is that "miilllllking it?"

Chimps belong in protected habitats. Not towns like Stamford.

[franksters]

You're completely missing the point. The woman is not complaining about her chimp bite from 1996. She's bringing to the attention of the authorities because they stated that the chimp had never harmed anyone. It bit this woman = harm. Pet owners are responsible when their animals have a history of biting / attacking. The owner of the chimp called her friend over to help her restrain the chimp, who had gotten out of the house. The owner stated that she gave the chimp Xanax earlier in the day. Xanax apparently can cause extreme agitation in apes. It sounds like the entire incident is the owner's fault: 1) she's keeping a wild animal as a 'domesticated' pet; 2) she knew that he had bitten someone previously; 3) she gave him Xanax at home; and 4) she called her now faceless and eyeless friend over to help her round up the chimp. She should be thrown in jail. The ape ripped off and chewed up this woman's face during a 13 minute period before help arrived. Apparently, he also injured her hands, and most likely bit off fingers, too.

[GeorgeP922]

Jesus Christ the woman lost her EYES and nose and "Part of her Jaw"

HTF do you lose part of your jaw?

I wouldn't be suprised now if the chimp's owner faces some steep criminal charges, if that women died I guarantee you the DA would charge invol manslaughter.

This is what happens every day in America, this is what happens when we let the poor and ignorant, and rich and ignorant have animals.

This women should have been prepared with her own tranquilizer gun or real handgun for this scenario.

[HonorJusticeTruth]

You loose part of your jaw when a 200 pound animal with very large hands and opposing thumbs and the strength that many NBA players would die for grabs hold of your face. Chimpanzees are pretty awesome in many ways, and unfortunately their socialization patterns aren't much different than ours when it comes to violence.

Everyone ends up suffering in this case.

[paulalex]

"...and the strength that many NBA players would die..."

Nice.

[paintitblack]

Chimpanzees are EXTREMELY strong. About 7x stronger than humans.... take a 200lb primate and you're lucky to be alive when he's through with you. They don't fight like humans- they dont punch and wail, they rip flesh. Look up other accounts of chimp attacks... very similar. This woman lost both of her hands as well, the monkey gnawed them off. He was basically trying to eat her alive. Horrible, horrible stuff.

[franksters]

How the hell did this woman survive this attack so far? An EMT on the scene said that he had never seen anyone in such horrible condition who was still living in his 30 years on the job. This story is absolutely outrageous and terribly, terribly sad. Laws should be changed. These types of animals do not belong in people's homes being trained to behave like humans. The owner is a complete and utter freak....there's no doubt about it.