A woman has come under fire after having an unapologetic reaction to breastfeeding a chimpanzee.
No you didn't misread that. An American woman named Pamela Rosaire that was caught feeding a chimp her milk is now part of a new docuseries about a celebrity ape named Tonka and a woman named Tonia Haddix's love for him.
Tonia calls herself a 'chimp mum' and the 'Dolly Parton of chimpanzees' - make of that what you will.
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It's a bizarre story, but one that has recently been released on HBO Max for the whole world to enjoy. You can view the trailer here:
Chimp Crazy is the new animal documentary on everyone's lips, four years after the release of the critically acclaimed Tiger King on Netflix.
Directed by Eric Goode, this series follows the story of chimp Tonka, who disappeared after starring in hit films such as Babe, Pig In The City, George Of The Jungle and Buddy.
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It results in an appeal to search for the missing primate, what might be a hoax and a court battle between PETA and an exotic pet breeder named Connie Casey.
Tonia, who initially worked for Casey at the Missouri Primate Foundation, according to The Sun, now has chimps of her own and openly admitted that she loves chimps more than her own two children, skipping school sports days to look after them.
She says in the doc: "You can shape them into you. They don't grow up and get a mind of their own.
"They don't break your heart. They'll be your friend for life. I'm sorry, but there is nothing like monkey love. It is so empowering.
"You become their mother. It's like your love for God."
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It turns out though, that it's not just her that is a lot closer to the chimps than any of us could fathom.
Mother Pamela Rosaire went one step further and would actually breastfeed the chimps, along with her own children, with husband Roger less than thrilled when he walked in on it happening.
"One day she's got Dallas [her actual baby] on one booby and a chimp on the other," he explains in the docuseries.
"I say, 'Woah, what are you doing?"
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Dallas, who is now grown up, explains: "We were like brother and sister. The moment a boy liked me, he'd throw poop at him. I can't imagine life without him."
Right then.
Pamela added: "Years ago, I had a baby chimp born two months premature. Premature chimps can't digest formula, but I'd just had my daughter, Dallas, so I did what came naturally. He's a baby that needs feeding, so feed it."
It's bizarre stuff, but controversy had surrounded housing and taking care of chimps at the time, with Tonia being taken to court by animal rights group PETA, who pointed out that she has no training or formal qualifications in caring for primates.
They would win a court order to move her chimps to an outdoor sanctuary.
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Tonia was ordered to stay at least two miles away while the seizure took place - but on the day that authorities came to take the animals, one had mysteriously vanished.
Tonka, 38, is nowhere to be seen, but Tonia insists that he had died after suffering stroke.
Actor Alan Cumming, who acted on Buddy with the chimp in 1997, even offered $10,000 (£7,470) to PETA as part of their campaign to find him, saying: "I hope he is alive. But if he is, where the f**k is he?
"I just hope Tonka can have the retirement that I thought he was going to have."
This is just one of the many shocking events that happen in the series, as PETA didn't believe Tonia's claims about Tonka's death.
Things got heated quickly, as Tonia even tried to run over PETA lawyer Jared Goodman in her car during filming after he suggested that she was keeping her chimps in 'unlawful' conditions.
It's a truly mind-blowing series, with all four parts available to stream on HBO Max now.
Topics: Animals, Documentaries, HBO, Parenting, TV
Joshua Nair