Moe Davise - domestic bliss or ignorant ridicule?

In 1966 St. James and LaDonna Davise were embarking on the greatest day of their lives, their wedding day; however when St. James failed to turn up to the Church, the havoc that ensued was too much for him to cope with and he traveled on a Merchant ship as a deckhand all the way to Tanzania where they were stranded due to ship damage. After befriending some of the natives, St. James witnessed the murder of a female Chimpanzee merely days after she gave birth. The next day, he returned to the site and found a small helpless newborn chimp, who he lovingly nurtured back to health and when rescued from Tanzania brought back to his home in America.

St James and Moe at the dinner table

There, St. James and LaDonna raised 'Moe' the chimp as their only son, for nearly forty years living in what they described to be bliss. From the beginning Moe's demeanor was surprising considering his shocking start in life; kind, gentle and obedient the Davises never understood why he was rejected by every zoo they took him to, so reveled in the challenge of raising him as their own. Over the coming years Moe became like a child to them, especially when LaDonna had to undergo a hysterectomy due to cancer preventing her and St James from ever having children of their own. Moe was taught how to use a knife and fork, spell him own name and use a toiler just as any young child would.

The concept of keeping wild animals as pets in a domesticated home has been a topic of argument for many centuries, and rightly so. The incredible creatures are not pets, they are not bred to live amongst humans, they are not (despite some beliefs) docile animals, Moe included. At the age of 30, in 1998 Moe Davise,now having broad shoulders, thick black fur, strong arms, and powerful sharp fangs dented a police car, scratched animal control agents and injured a police officers hand before he could be caught and contained - this supposedly amiable Primate began to show the strain of being kept in what was essentially captivity for three decades. 

Moe with the Davises on their wedding day.
He was the ring bearer.

The situation was only made worse when a year later Moe bit the finger of a female guest to the Davises family home, causing him to be deemed too dangerous to remain there. Moe was taken to the Wildlife WayStation, where he was brutally treated. Starved and covered in his own faeces when a distressed St James and LaDonna arrived to visit him, they demanded he was transferred. The couple filed a suit against the Wildlife Waystation and fought off accusations that they had be unlawfully harbouring a wild animal for the past thirty years. Despite overwhelming support from the community Moe was taken away from their care and placed in the Animal Haven Ranch.

On March 3rd 2005, St James and LaDonna were visiting Moe for his 39th birthday - they were able to visit him whenever they desired. The owners of the Ranch already cared for seven primates, none of whom had regular visitors, this attention and love for the animals was rare. Out of the corner of her eye LaDonna saw an escaped male Chimpanzee, who stared at her before attacking her and tearing off her thumb. As St James tried to protect his wife, another Chimpanzee approached and together the two Primates brutally maimed Mr Davise. They bit into his skull, gouged out his eye and chewed off his nose, mouth and teeth leaving a gaping hole. They ripped off the skin on one side of his face and devoured three fingers on his hand. Although St James survived, his life is arguably unlivable. His wife if his carer every minute of the day, he cannot wash himself, go to the toilet, or eat without LaDonna's help, barely able to utter a sound from his mutilated mouth.

St James and LaDonna after the attack.

A few years later, on the 27th of June, Moe escaped. His cage was left open an there was no sign of him. He was never found. Despite the attack LaDonna and St James continued their regular visits to his home, and were devastated at the news. They still refuse to comment on what may have become of him.

This tragedy is only one example of the effect of keeping wild animals in captivity. The strain will eventually consume them, causing them to lash out. Whilst Moe was not the cause of these injuries, he also displayed tendencies relating to the stress of being kept away from him natural habitat and his instinct to be free. The adoption of Primates as domesticated pets is illegal for good reason, as the Jane Goodall Institute suggests "Aggression is a natural aspect of chimpanzee behavior, they have a need for constant mental stimulation, which - if disrupted - can lead to outbreaks of violence". 

Whilst the stimulus for aggression in Chimpanzees towards humans is often the way they are treated, or kept, it has been said that male chimps in particular are genetically violent, once again reinforcing the idea that the animals should not be kept by humans. Despite St James and LaDonna believing that that their human upbringing for Moe would domesticate him, this concept proposed by Dr Jane Goodall would suggest that regardless of his upbringing, the unpredictable nature of Chimpanzees means they never have been and never will be safe to live with humans. 

In the wild, there is a reasonable and scientific explanation to this seemingly 'random' aggression. The more aggressive a male chimpanzee, the more likely he is to father offspring. In Chimpanzee mating season, the female Chimps will often mate with the entire group of males Chimps in order to provide uncertainty as to who the father of the offspring is. Just as in humans, the male Chimpanzees become frustrated with this uncertainty and try to assert their dominance. Wanting to protect their female and persuade her not to mate with another Chimp to prevent this uncertainty, the male becomes aggressive to prove his dominance over the other Chimps, allowing them to regain a certain degree of control over the females mating. However when placed in a human environment, this aggression appears random. 

One may say that LaDonna and St James's treatment of Moe was delusional. Forcing him into human activities such as writing his name, dressing him in sailor outfits and keeping him from his own species - surely this is animal cruelty? However those who know them best persist that their actions were those of pure love, and Moe - a wild animal - was perfectly content being ridiculed.

Whilst the debate over the domestication of Primates continue, I personally cannot help but wonder how a human could consider removing an animal from its natural habitat, not allowing it any contact with its species and trying to pretend that it is in fact a human, acts of love.