A pet chimpanzee who starred in commercials for Coca-Cola has been shot dead by police after reportedly biting off a woman’s hands in a frenzied attack.

Charla Nash, 55, from Stamford, Connecticut, suffered life-threatening injuries when she was viciously mauled and bitten by the animal at a friend’s home, according to Connecticut website WFSB.com.

She had been summoned by its owner, 70-year-old Sandra Herold, to help calm down the 14-year-old chimp, called Travis, after it had used a key to escape from its living quarters inside its home.

Herold had already tried to sedate Travis with tea laced with a tranquilizer drug. She said the chimp was suffering from Lyme disease which can cause psychosis and rage.

Police said Travis attacked Nash as soon as she stepped out of her car. Neighbours told WFSB.com that the animal mauled her face and neck and bit off both her hands.

Herold tried to restrain the 200-pound chimp before calling 911. She then attacked the chimp with a kitchen knife and a shovel.

When police arrived, Travis attempted to get into the patrol cruiser, ripping off a wing mirror and opening the driver’s door, causing officers to shot him at close range. The chimp then crawled inside the house and was later found dead.

Travis had been something of a local celebrity in Stamford after starring in TV adverts for Coca-Cola and Old Navy, posing for photos with police officers. But in 2003 police had to shoot him with a tranquillizer gun after he escaped in the centre of town and “wreaked havoc.”

Despite their friendly reputation and cuddly image, chimpanzees can easily turn violent, wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin told CNN.

“These are very wild, powerful great apes. They can display a whole range of emotions whether it is empathy, whether it is passion, or in this case violence,” he said.

“The truth is that these animals don’t make good pets. Most situations where humans and chimps mix in the home environment ends up tragically for the human being, the chimp or both.”

But Corwin said chimpanzees shouldn’t be vilified because of the attack. “These are endangered species, they are incredibly important to the environments where they live and they make up a great part of the great ark of our planet.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 6:52 pm and is filed under Angry, Mammals, Pets, Primates, apes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.