St. James Davis chimpanzee attack

St. James and LaDonna Davis adopted a chimpanzee named Moe in 1967, not long after his birth in Tanzania. Tanzanian poachers had killed his mother when he was one day old. St. James and LaDonna were unable to have children due to LaDonna suffering from uterine cancer and requiring a hysterectomy, so they raised him as their own. He lived with them in their home, wore clothes, was toilet trained, and took showers. He participated in their wedding; LaDonna said he acted as “a combination of flower-thrower and best man". In 1977, when Moe was 10 years old, he bit a woman, injuring her finger. A lawsuit followed, but the case was dismissed. In the 1990s, Moe was housed in a by enclosure at St. James and LaDonna's home. On August 16, 1998, he escaped. They claimed that he had been frightened by an electric shock that occurred while his cage was being repaired. Local police were called, and several officers were required to restrain him. While resisting recapture, he dented a police car and mauled a police officer's hand. The police officer required medical treatment and subsequent rehabilitation costing . On September 2, 1999, a visitor came to see Moe. St. James and LaDonna said that they warned her not to attempt to approach his cage, but she extended her hand into it, and he bit her. St. James and LaDonna claimed that she wore red nail polish, and Moe had mistaken her nails for his favorite licorice. She sued, and St. James and LaDonna settled the lawsuit. West Covina officials seized Moe and relocated him to Wildlife WayStation, an animal sanctuary. St. James and LaDonna fought to regain custody of him, but were unsuccessful. In 2002, they filed a civil rights lawsuit against West Covina; the city ultimately agreed to pay them plus for a home purchase in nearby Baldwin Park, California, where they could live with Moe. ==Attack==

St. James and LaDonna visited Moe regularly at the animal sanctuary. In 2003, the sanctuary experienced licensing problems, so he was transferred to Animal Haven Ranch, a nonprofit sanctuary near Bakersfield, California that housed six primates. On March 3, 2005, St. James and LaDonna came to Animal Haven Ranch to celebrate Moe's 39th birthday. They brought him a birthday cake and were seated at a picnic table next to his enclosure. They brought toys, candy hearts, chocolate milk, and a raspberry-filled sheet cake for the party. LaDonna said Moe clapped his hands with joy when he saw them. She cut a piece of cake for him and then, when she went to cut a second piece, she noticed that another chimpanzee had gotten out of its cage. It rushed up to her and bit her thumb off. St. James pushed her under the table to protect her. A second chimpanzee was also loose. The two young chimpanzees involved in the attack were named Buddy and Ollie. Buddy was the older of the two at 16; Ollie was 13. Two female chimpanzees named Susie and Bones also escaped from their cages during the attack, but did not participate in it; they were recaptured five hours later. Moe also did not participate in the attack. Buddy and Ollie attacked St. James simultaneously; one chimpanzee initially attacked his face, while the other attacked his foot. The sanctuary owner's son-in-law, Mark Carruthers, retrieved a .45 caliber revolver and fatally shot Buddy in the head. Meanwhile, Ollie dragged St. James' body down a walkway. Carruthers followed and shot him. Buddy and Ollie destroyed a majority of St. James' fingers, his left foot, most of his buttocks, both testicles, part of his torso, and parts of his face including his nose and lips. A paramedic who arrived said, "It looked like a grizzly bear attack." St. James was transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center after the attack. ==Aftermath==

Davis spent six months in the hospital recovering from the attack, including a period of time when he was in a coma. LaDonna later became a victim of elder abuse through financial means. The alleged perpetrator, Min Maw, coerced her into signing over a living will to himself that included the Davis's properties and control of active bank accounts. By the time authorities stepped in, the house had been taken over by members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club who had forced Maw out and were neglecting LaDonna's care. After the motorcycle gang were evicted, a legal battle began with Maw, which was eventually settled to preserve what remained of LaDonna's stolen assets, rather than risk a lengthy and expensive court case. ==See also==