FESTUS, Mo. – “Chimp Crazy,” a new hit docuseries on HBO Max, explores the wild life of a Missouri woman at the center of legal battles and controversies surrounding exotic animal ownership.
The new docuseries, directed by Tiger King filmmaker Eric Goode, digs deep into Tonia Haddix’s complications, along with broader issues related to the private ownership of exotic animals and standards for such care.
“Chimp Crazy” debuted on HBO Max’s streaming service on Aug. 18. The four-part docuseries is based on original reporting from FOX Files investigator Chris Hayes.
Who is Tonia Haddix?
Tonia Haddix, a Festus woman and exotic animal owner entangled a series of legal battles, is the subject of a new viral “Chimp Crazy” docuseries.
Haddix, who once dubbed herself the “Dolly Parton of chimps,” has faced pushback from law enforcement and animal advocacy groups like PETA, which allege that many chimpanzees once under her care were unsafe and neglected.
Just last year, Haddix and her husband Jerry Aswegan opened the Sunrise Beach Safari near the Lake of the Ozarks. The venue’s website says it is family-run and offers a petting zoo, pony rides, sloth encounters and photo opportunities with animals.
Haddix and Aswegan opened the Sunrise Beach Safari after PETA filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in October 2022 to terminate both of their Animal Welfare Act licenses. The licenses allow them to operate the venue with exotic animals.
Before that, PETA won a lengthy legal battle that ended with Haddix turning over seven chimpanzees previously in her care.
Throughout the years, Haddix cared for the seven chimpanzees and bred them as talent for films and photoshoots, among other activities. These chimpanzees previously inhabited the Missouri Primate Foundation, a now-defunct animal breeding facility near Festus.
Haddix’s attachment to one chimpanzee, Tonka, sparked national attention in 2021. Tonka is a former animal movie star, appearing in films like the 1997 comedy Buddy. At some point, Haddix claimed that Tonka had died when she instead had him locked in her basement.
Before that, PETA and Haddix agreed to a consent decree in 2020 that would address concerns of neglect and allow Haddix to keep three of the seven chimpanzees, including Tonka, according to our news partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Later on, Haddix told FOX Files reporter Chris Hayes, “They’re not getting the chimps” in defiance of such terms.
Federal authorities eventually removed six chimps, all but Tonka, while responding to Festus in July 2021. Arrangements called to transfer the chimpanzees to a Florida animal sanctuary for treatment. At the time, Haddix stood by the assertion that Tonka was dead.
But nearly one whole year later, Tonka was found caged in Haddix’s basement in her Lake of the Ozarks-area home.
That discovery prompted a new lawsuit from PETA, which contended that Haddix and her husband concocted an elaborate hoax when claiming Tonka had died, lied under oath about text messages she sent about Tonka at a time she previously deemed the chimp dead and tried to bribe federal marshals ordered to prevent Haddix from euthanizing Tonka.
Just last year, a federal court ordered Haddix to pay more than $220,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs to PETA last year to end that lawsuit.
In 2022, amid pending prosecution, Haddix told FOX 2 that she was unable to talk on camera about the situation, but sent the following message: “I still stand on my promise to Tonka, and I would do anything to protect him from the evil clutches of PETA and the hell hole they placed him in. And that if the judicial system was just, he never would have left the only home he’s ever known.”
Haddix is also the mother of two children, and description of the docuseries states that Haddix once claimed that she loved Tonka more than her children.
Is Tonka the Chimp still alive?
After Tonka was found in 2022, he was taken to the “Save the Chimps” animal sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Tonka, at the age of 32, is still alive and still resides at the “Save The Chimps” sanctuary.
Officials say the Tonka was pale and overweight when he arrived to Florida due to “poor diet and confinement to a basement cage.” Tonka has since accustomed to a more regular diet and taken advantage of his outdoor access.
“Save The Chimps” says it aims to offer chimps more stability after experiences in research laboratory, pet trade or entertainment industry.
There have been no reports of contact between Tonka and Haddix since both were split apart in 2022.
HBO Max will release its fourth and final episode of “Chimp Crazy” on Sept. 8. The other three episodes are available to stream as of Sept. 1.
