Chimpanzee Star of "Buddy" Found Alive After His Owner Allegedly Faked His Death

Your audio article is ready to load.

Tonka the Chimp is at the center of a legal battle because his owner is accused of faking his death.

Tonka was found alive after his former owner, Tonia Haddix, faked his death, according to a press release.

The chimp's former owner denied in an interview with Rolling Stone that Tonka was going to be euthanized on June 2, despite receiving intel that he was still alive, according to a claim by the animal rights group.

The first owner of the chimp was sued by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta). One of the chimp's that was shot to death by a neighbor after it escaped from a primate foundation was bred by the foundation's founder.

After the dissolution of CASEY's organization, Haddix took over care for Tonka and six other Chimpanzees and began a lengthy dispute with the courts over how many animals she could have in her care and the quality of her facilities for them. Haddix was ordered to turn over the seven primate's to a sanctuary. She didn't want to be parted with Tonka.

The woman told Rolling Stone that she faked Tonka's death in order to keep him.

Haddix paints herself as a devoted animal mom in an interview with the magazine, but that's not the case according to the organization.

Tonka was found overweight and locked in a small cage in Haddix's basement, where he was not allowed outside and had no contact with other animals. Chimpanzees have been shown to be very bad for their health, with isolation resulting in higher stress levels that can lead to early death.

Haddix told Rolling Stone that she doesn't think Tonka will survive the trip from her home in Missouri to the sanctuary in Florida because he just cannot tolerate that.

She said that Tonka is not a normal chimp. He was raised for the movie sets and was not interested in other Chimpanzees. He doesn't act like a chimp.

Someone leaked a recording of a lengthy phone call Haddix had with someone from the crew for her own "Tiger King"esque documentary about Tonka. She admitted in the call that the chimp was suffering from heart failure and that she had to kill him.

She said she couldn't do it. He was going to make an appointment on the 2nd of June.

Haddix told Rolling Stone that if Tonka dies, she'll die without him, and that if he's killed, she'll be sued by the animal rights group.

There is no clear winner or loser in this sad story.

Alan Cumming's missing co-star Chimp was found alive and well after his owner faked his death.

The feds are investigating why lab monkeys were shot to death.