STAMFORD, Conn. — Travis the chimpanzee’s relationship with his owner was closer than those of some married couples.
Sandra Herold gave him the finest food, and wine in long-stemmed glasses. They took baths together and cuddled in the bed they shared. Travis brushed the lonely widow’s hair each night and pined for her when she was away.
If she left the house alone, Travis would give her a kiss.
“If I left with someone Travis would get upset,” Herold said Wednesday.
Experts say the unusually human relationship would have been confusing for any animal. It may have also played a role in Travis’ savage attack Monday on Herold’s friend, 55-year-old Charla Nash of Stamford.
“This is a crazy relationship,” said Stephen Rene Tello, executive director of Primarily Primates, a sanctuary for chimps in Texas. “He was probably very bonded with her. I can kind of see it in his eyes this is his surrogate mother.”
And chimps like 14-year-old Travis, who was shot and killed by police, protect their mates and turf.
“If there is another person entering his space, he might consider it a threat to his territory, or even his mate,” Tello said.
Police said Travis attacked Nash when she arrived at the house to help lure the chimp back into Herold’s house. Herold speculated that Travis was being protective of her and attacked Nash because she had a different hairstyle, was driving a different car and held a stuffed toy in front of her face to get the chimp’s attention.
Nash suffered massive injuries to her face and hands, requiring more than seven hours of surgery by four teams of doctors to stabilize her. She was transferred in critical condition Thursday to the Cleveland Clinic, which two months ago performed the nation’s first successful face transplant.
Mental health professionals say a strong bond between pet owners and their animals is generally good because it can be therapeutic and comforting. The boundaries get blurred, though, when owners treat the animals like humans rather than pets, and expect a reciprocal relationship similar to what they would have with a family member.
David Baron, professor and chairman of the Temple University School of Medicine’s psychiatry department, said in cases such as Herold’s, the grief of losing loved ones could have made it easy for her to view Travis as a surrogate child and friend. Her husband died in 2004 and her only daughter was killed in a car accident several years ago.
“I wouldn’t say that she shouldn’t have a pet, but this may be something that should be looked at as part of a grief reaction that’s beyond normal,” he said.
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