In 1967, NASCAR driver St. James Davis traveled to Tanzania expecting an unforgettable African adventure. Instead, he came across a scene so disturbing that it stayed with him for the rest of his life.
During his journey, Davis witnessed poachers attacking chimpanzees in the wild. One of the animals was a mother that had only recently given birth. The poachers killed her, leaving the newborn chimpanzee alone beside her body.
Davis could not forget what he had seen. That night, the tragedy kept him awake. The next day, he returned to the same area and discovered that the baby chimpanzee was still there, remaining beside his dead mother.
Davis chose to take the orphaned animal with him.
He eventually brought the young chimpanzee back to California, cleaned him, and gave him the name Moe. When Davis introduced Moe to his girlfriend, LaDonna, she quickly became attached to him. Over time, the unusual animal stopped being simply a rescue and became a member of their household.
Moe was raised very differently from an ordinary pet. He lived alongside the couple inside their house, joined them at the dinner table, slept in their bed, and even learned to use a toilet. Davis also carried him in a sling while working at his auto body shop, making Moe a familiar part of his everyday life.
When St. James and LaDonna married two years later, they even included Moe in their wedding. The chimpanzee participated in the ceremony as the flower thrower and stood beside Davis as his best man.
But childhood could not last forever. As Moe became older, his enormous strength and natural behavior became increasingly difficult to overlook.
In 1977, when Moe was 10 years old, he bit a woman on the finger. The incident resulted in a lawsuit and raised questions about whether he should remain with the Davises. A judge ultimately decided that Moe could stay after observing his generally calm behavior around people.
For years afterward, the family continued caring for him. Then Moe demonstrated that beneath his familiarity with humans, he still possessed the instincts and physical abilities of a wild chimpanzee.
In 1998, Moe escaped from his enclosure and authorities struggled to bring him under control. Several police officers and animal control workers became involved in the effort. During the incident, Moe damaged a police vehicle and injured an officer’s hand.
Another biting incident occurred in 1999. This time, Moe was transferred to an animal sanctuary where he could live among other chimpanzees. Even after the move, the Davises did not abandon him. They continued making regular visits to see the animal they had raised for years.
Then came March 3, 2005, when a visit that was supposed to be a celebration became a life changing disaster.
The Davises had traveled to the sanctuary to celebrate Moe’s 38th birthday. They brought him a birthday cake and passed a piece through the enclosure. Nearby, however, two other male chimpanzees were watching what was happening.
The situation suddenly became violent. The two chimpanzees became aggressive, escaped their enclosure, and charged toward the couple before they had time to react.
LaDonna was the first person attacked. She later recalled that she had been positioned between the animals and her husband when they came toward her. One chimpanzee grabbed her thumb, but St. James managed to push her away and get her underneath a table, helping protect her from further attack.
The animals then focused their attention on him.
What followed was a devastating assault. The chimpanzees dragged St. James away and inflicted catastrophic injuries. He lost his nose, his right eye, and eight fingers, while suffering additional severe injuries across his body.
A sanctuary employee heard the screams and rushed toward the scene. A ranger arrived with a firearm and shot one of the attacking chimpanzees. The other animal was killed shortly afterward.
Although St. James survived, the consequences were enormous. He remained in the hospital for five months, underwent more than a dozen operations, and spent part of his recovery in a medically induced coma.
Afterward, experts considered several possible explanations for the sudden attack. Some suggested the chimpanzees may have reacted to Moe receiving special attention and food, possibly viewing the situation as a challenge to their social hierarchy. Others believed jealousy could have contributed to the aggression.
The incident became a powerful reminder that intelligence and familiarity do not remove the dangers associated with powerful wild animals. Chimpanzees can form strong relationships with people, but they retain physical strength, instincts, and social behaviors that can become dangerous in certain circumstances.
Moe himself later escaped once more in 2008. He reportedly broke through the steel barriers surrounding his enclosure before disappearing into the mountains. Despite efforts to locate him, he was never found.
For St. James and LaDonna, the chimpanzee they had rescued and raised for almost four decades was suddenly gone. Their story remains a reminder that an animal can become deeply connected to a human family while still remaining, at its core, a wild creature.
