In 1967, NASCAR driver St. James Davis traveled to Tanzania, Africa, expecting to return home with unforgettable memories from his journey. Instead, he witnessed something horrifying that would change his life forever.
During his trip, Davis saw poachers attacking chimpanzees in the wild. Among the victims was a mother chimpanzee that had just given birth. Moments after seeing the newborn, the poachers killed the mother, leaving the baby chimp alone beside her body.
The image stayed with Davis. He could not sleep that night, and the following day he returned to the location. There, he found the orphaned chimpanzee still lying near his dead mother.
Davis decided to rescue him.
He brought the young chimp back to California, cleaned him up, and named him Moe. When Davis introduced Moe to his girlfriend LaDonna, she immediately formed a strong bond with the animal. Over the years, Moe became part of their family.
The couple did not treat him like a normal pet. Moe lived inside their home, sat at the dinner table, slept in their bed, and even learned how to use a toilet. Davis often carried him around in a sling while working at his auto body shop.
Two years later, when St. James and LaDonna got married, Moe was included in the ceremony. He acted as the flower thrower and stood beside Davis as his best man.
But as Moe grew older, his size and strength became impossible to ignore.
In 1977, when Moe was 10 years old, he bit a woman’s finger. The incident led to a lawsuit and an attempt to remove him from the Davises’ care. However, after seeing Moe’s calm behavior around humans, the judge allowed him to stay with the family.
Years later, Moe showed that he still had the instincts of a wild animal.
In 1998, Moe escaped from his enclosure. It took multiple police officers and animal control workers to capture him. During the incident, he damaged a police vehicle and injured an officer’s hand.
After another biting incident in 1999, Moe was moved to an animal sanctuary where he could live with other chimpanzees. The Davises continued visiting him regularly.
Then, on March 3, 2005, the situation turned into a nightmare.
The Davises arrived at the sanctuary to celebrate Moe’s 38th birthday. They brought a cake and gave him a piece through the cage. But nearby, two other male chimpanzees were watching.
The animals became aggressive. Before anyone could react, the two chimpanzees escaped their enclosure and attacked the couple.
LaDonna was attacked first. She later explained that she was standing between the chimps and her husband when they charged toward her. One chimp grabbed her thumb, but St. James pushed her away and moved her under a table, saving her life.
Then the chimpanzees turned on him.
The attack was brutal. The animals dragged him away and caused devastating injuries. St. James lost his nose, right eye, eight fingers, and suffered severe injuries to other parts of his body.
A sanctuary employee rushed to the scene after hearing the screams. A ranger grabbed a firearm and shot one of the chimpanzees. The second chimp was killed moments later.
St. James survived, but his recovery was extremely difficult. He spent five months in the hospital, underwent more than a dozen surgeries, and was placed into a medically induced coma.
Experts later debated why the attack happened. Some believed the chimpanzees were trying to establish dominance after seeing Moe receive special treatment. Others suggested jealousy may have played a role.
The tragedy showed that chimpanzees, despite their intelligence and emotional connections with humans, are still powerful wild animals. Years later, Moe escaped again in 2008 by breaking through the steel barriers of his enclosure. He disappeared into the mountains and was never found.
For the Davises, the chimpanzee they raised for nearly 40 years was gone.
But the attack left behind a terrifying lesson: even animals that seem loving and familiar can still carry the instincts of the wild.
