Where Is Tonka Now? All AboutChimp Crazy's Star Primate and the Fla. Sanctuary He Calls Home

Mar. 15, 2025

Tonka the chimpanzee.Photo:HBO

HBO

Tonka, the chimpanzee at the center of theHBO docuseriesChimp Crazy, is far removed from the drama included in the show today.

The 32-year-old primate first rose to fame in the 90s, when, as a young primate, he appeared on television and in numerous films, includingGeorge of the Jungle,Babe: Pig in the City, andBuddy — in which appeared alongside Alan Cumming— according toSave the Chimps, Tonka’s current sanctuary home.

After Tonka matured and grew too large and unpredictable for entertainment work, he started residing full-time at a primate breeding facility that later became a nonprofit called Missouri Primate Foundation (MPF) (previously known as Chimparty). In the late 2010s,Tonia Haddix, a former nurse turned exotic animal enthusiast, took over ownership of MPF’s seven primates, including Tonka, from Connie Casey.

Chimp Crazyreveals that in 2019, after ownership of the animals was transferred to Haddix, she was added as a defendant to thelawsuit PETA filed in 2017against Casey and MPF, alleging the chimpanzees' unsatisfactory living conditions violated the Endangered Species Act.

The docuseries fromTiger Kingdirector Eric Goode, finds Tonka at MPF amid Haddix’s drawn-out legal battle with PETA.

According to paperwork from PETA, Haddix and MPF reached a consent decree with PETA in 2020 that said four of the chimps at MPF would be moved to a sanctuary, and Haddix could keep three of the chimpanzees, including Tonka, if she met certain conditions and upgraded the Festus, Mo., facility.

Tonka and Tonya Haddix in ‘Chimp Crazy’.Courtesy of HBO

Courtesy of HBO

Haddix claimed in an interview with theSt. LouisPost-Dispatchin 2021 that she had signed the consent decree “under duress.”

Haddix did not meet the decree’s agreed-upon conditions, so a judge found her in contempt of court and ordered all seven chimpanzees transferred to a sanctuary. But when sheriff’s deputies and U.S. Marshals went to carry out the order to remove the seven primates in July 2021,Tonka was gone. Haddix claimed the chimp had died before officials arrived.

The shocking reveal likely left many wondering where Tonka is now and if he is still under Haddix’s care.Chimp Crazyis set to provide the answers in its upcoming episodes, but the chimpanzee’s current home is not a secret.

In the spring of 2022, PETA learned that Haddix was keeping Tonka in her basement. This led to the chimp’s removal from her custody and transfer to Save the Chimps.

Save the Chimps is a privately funded chimpanzee sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida, with the mission “to provide sanctuary and exemplary care to chimpanzees in need,“according to its website.

Tonka in his enclosure inside Tonia Haddix’s home.HBO

At Tonka’s sanctuary home, resident chimpanzees — all incapable of living in the wild afterearly lives spent in the entertainment industry, under private ownership, or at animal testing labs— live in large family groups on 12 separate 3-acre islands. On these islands, the primates, including Tonka, are given “choices and control over their own lives.”

“An enriched outdoor environment allows the chimps to roam, visit with friends, bask in the sun, or curl up in the shade. These freedoms provide them with the dignified and peaceful retirement they have always deserved,“Save the Chimps shared on its website.

Save the Chimps also noted online that the sanctuary’s caregivers and veterinarians do not have physical contact with resident primates unless the animal requires it for a medical procedure. Sanctuary staff members talk to and interact with the primates without physical touch. Save the Chimps is closed to the public but offers a limited number of ticketed events each year.

Save the Chimps saidit minimizes human contact to “ensure a peaceful retirement” for the animal residents. According to the sanctuary, Tonka retired to Doug Island, one of Save the Chimps' 12 island habitats, where he lives with 17 other chimps, including his new friends Jacob, Cayleb, Ursula, Angie the 2nd, Andrea the 2nd, Lil' Mini, and September.

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“When Tonka came to us, he was more human-oriented than chimp-oriented and rarely involved himself in group politics. Now, you would never know that Tonka is new to the group. He interacts affectionately with all the chimps and will drop everything to join a grooming session, especially if his beloved Ursula invites him,” Save the Chimps care staffer Jenny Friedman said in a statement.

To learn more about Tonka’s life today, visit theSave the Chimps website.

New episodes of Chimp Crazy air weekly on HBO on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT and are also available to stream on Max.

source: people.com