Chimp Crazy

Did You Know?

• Tonka was rented out for movies such as Buddy and George of the Jungle before retiring to the Missouri Primate Foundation.
• A 28-year-old chimp named Suzy escaped in 2001 and was shot by a 17-year-old neighbor; Connie Casey took out a newspaper ad demanding punishment.
• Tonia Haddix pleaded guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice in March 2025 and was later sentenced to 46 months in prison.

Production

Eric Goode was drawn to individuals who treated pet monkeys and chimpanzees like children. He first aimed to profile Connie Casey of the Missouri Primate Foundation, but she refused to be interviewed. To reach Tonia Haddix, Goode employed Dwayne Cunningham, a former circus clown and animal trainer, who pretended to be a filmmaker sympathetic to exotic pet ownership. Haddix later told Rolling Stone she would not have agreed to the documentary if she had known Goode was behind it. Still, after learning his identity, she allowed Goode to interview her for more than a year.

Background

The Missouri Primate Foundation originated from a 1960s pet shop called Braun's Barn in Festus, Missouri, owned by Connie Braun Casey. Casey bought her first chimp in 1972 and later acquired wild-caught chimps before the Endangered Species Act made it difficult. She bred them, selling babies for $40,000 to $65,000, and started Chimparty, a business renting baby chimps for parties, nursing homes, and media productions. In 1992, one of her chimps bit off her husband's nose. Concerned about negative press, Casey created the nonprofit Missouri Primate Foundation while continuing Chimparty and primate sales. In 2001, a chimp named Suzy escaped and was shot by 17-year-old neighbor Jason Coats; Casey placed a newspaper ad demanding punishment and a sign in her yard blaming Coats. Suzy had given birth to six chimps, including Travis, who mauled a woman in Connecticut in 2009 and was killed by police. In 2016, employee Angela Scott contacted PETA about abuse at the facility, secretly filming video before quitting. PETA, already investigating due to USDA violations, filed a lawsuit in December 2016 under the Endangered Species Act. While Casey fought the lawsuit, Tonia Haddix visited seeking a baby chimp but instead took over the facility in 2018, including an adult chimp named Tonka.

Aftermath

The PETA lawsuit led authorities to send six chimpanzees from the Missouri Primate Foundation to the Center for Great Apes in Florida: Candy, Connor, Kerry, Mikayla, Chloe, and Tammy. The center already housed five other chimps born at the Missouri facility, allowing family reunions. Connor, who had been rented for Hallmark cards, died of advanced bladder cancer; Connie Casey visited him at the sanctuary in his final days. Tonka, kept in Tonia Haddix's basement for months, could not join his family at the Center for Great Apes due to lack of space and was sent to Save the Chimps, another accredited sanctuary in Florida. Tonka arrived pale and overweight but had no serious health issues. During quarantine, he played chase with a chimp named Jacob and developed friendships with Jacob and Cayleb, who turned out to be Tonka's son; another offspring, Lisa Marie, lived in a different group. Tonka joined Doug's family group on one of Save the Chimps' 12 island habitats, enjoying sunshine, painting, juice, and fleece blankets. The sanctuary gives male chimps vasectomies, and a representative noted Tonka is very interested in females. In the month after Chimp Crazy aired, donations to Save the Chimps doubled and website traffic increased 7000%.