A horrific 2005 chimpanzee attack on former NASCAR driver St. James Davis exposes the deadly consequences of treating wild animals as family members, leaving one man catastrophically disfigured and fighting for his life.
The Savage Birthday Attack
St. James Davis and his wife LaDonna arrived at Animal Haven Ranch in Bakersfield, California on March 3, 2005, carrying birthday cake and gifts for Moe’s 39th birthday celebration. The couple had raised Moe from infancy and treated him like their own child for nearly four decades. As they prepared to celebrate inside Moe’s enclosure, two younger male chimps named Buddy and Ollie suddenly appeared, having escaped their cage. Within seconds, one chimp charged the couple, knocking them to the ground and beginning a brutal five-minute assault.
St. James Davis Chimpanzee Attack: A Tragic Story of Domesticated Wild Animals.
The story began in 1967 when the Davises “St. James and his wife LaDonna” adopted Moe “a chimp” after his mother was killed by Tanzanian poachers when he was just one day old.
The Davises raised Moe… pic.twitter.com/XQY4yKbHyu
— Amer Salem (@AmerYaaqoub) July 6, 2023
Heroic Protection Turns Into Nightmare
Davis immediately pushed his wife LaDonna under a picnic table and faced the attacking chimps alone. The animals systematically destroyed his face and body, gouging out his right eye, tearing off his nose and lips, and severing his genitals. Despite being 6’2″ and physically strong, Davis was no match for the frenzied chimps who clawed skin from his face, bit through his skull, and gnawed a gaping hole in his left foot. The attack only ended when sanctuary worker Mark Carruthers shot both chimps dead with a revolver.
Devastating Injuries and Long Recovery
Davis spent six months in the hospital, including time in a coma, and underwent more than 60 surgeries over four years. His face became nearly unrecognizable, with only a red patch with slit-like holes where his nose had been. A prosthetic nose held by magnets constantly fell off, and his shattered facial bones could not properly support reconstructed skin. He lost most of his fingers, required a glass eye, and needed a wheelchair after his foot was so severely damaged that amputation remained a possibility.
On February 16, 2009, a distressing call was made to 911 dispatchers in Stamford, Connecticut. Sandra Herold, in a state of panic, reported that her friend, Charla Nash, was being brutally attacked and partially eaten by Herold's pet chimpanzee, Travis.
When emergency services… pic.twitter.com/UYSLPBvKfO
— Morbid Knowledge (@MorbidKnowledge) June 26, 2024
Sanctuary Negligence and No Accountability
Investigation revealed that Buddy and Ollie escaped because sanctuary staff failed to properly lock their cage doors. Despite the life-altering injuries caused by this negligence, Davis chose not to sue Animal Haven Ranch because the facility lacked liability insurance. Davis had no health insurance and faced mounting medical bills while dealing with permanent disabilities. He told Esquire magazine in 2009 that he could no longer do anything independently, describing himself as sitting “around like a potted plant.”
A Dangerous Bond That Began in Africa
Davis first encountered Moe in 1967 during a trip to Tanzania, where he witnessed a mother chimp being killed during a hunt. Taking pity on the orphaned infant, Davis spent weeks caring for the baby chimp before bringing him back to California on a 19-hour flight. The chimp even served as best man at Davis and LaDonna’s 1970 wedding and became a celebrity during a 1971 court case that made him an honorary citizen of West Covina. However, Moe’s violent incidents in the late 1990s, including injuring a police officer and biting a woman, forced his relocation to the sanctuary where the tragic attack later occurred.