Travis, a chimpanzee adopted by Sandra Herold when he was just a baby, was not like other animals. Sandra treated him like her own child. She taught him how to open doors, wear clothes, water plants, eat at the table, drink juice from a glass, use a computer and TV, brush his teeth, and even drive a car. He was featured in TV commercials and was known and loved in the Stamford, Connecticut community.
But one day in 2009, tragedy struck.
That day, Carla Nash, a friend of Sandra and someone Travis had known for years, came to visit. During the visit, Carla picked up Travis’s favorite toy — a stuffed teddy bear. Unexpectedly, Travis flew into a violent rage. He attacked Carla in one of the most horrifying chimpanzee attacks ever reported in the U.S.
Sandra tried to stop the assault by hitting Travis with a shovel and stabbing him with a knife, but nothing worked. In a final plea for help, she called 911, screaming: “He’s killing my friend!”
When police arrived, Travis charged at the patrol car, attempted to open the passenger door, and shattered the side mirror. He then moved to the driver’s side, where Officer Frank Chiafari shot him multiple times. Mortally wounded, Travis retreated into the house and collapsed near his cage, where he died.
Emergency responders described Carla Nash’s injuries as “horrific.” Over 72 hours, she underwent more than seven hours of facial and hand surgeries performed by four surgical teams. Doctors discovered serious brain tissue damage. Her hands and parts of her face were destroyed. They removed Travis’s implanted teeth and hair from her wounds, and reattached her jaw, but she was declared permanently blind.
Nash was later transferred to Cleveland Clinic, and in 2011, she underwent a pioneering face and hand transplant. While the face transplant was successful, complications forced doctors to remove the transplanted hands just days later due to infection and circulation issues.
Sandra Herold claimed she had given Travis Xanax — a powerful anti-anxiety drug — that day, which could have exacerbated his aggression. Xanax in primates can cause hallucinations, agitation, and loss of inhibition. Later, another woman came forward, claiming Travis had bitten her in 1996, but no official report existed.
Following the attack, public debate erupted over the ethics and safety of keeping exotic animals as pets. Renowned primatologist Jane Goodall and other experts condemned the practice. The story reached as far as China and was covered by major outlets including TIME magazine.
In the aftermath, Nash filed a $50 million lawsuit against Sandra Herold. Sandra’s assets were frozen, and Nash eventually settled for around $4 million. Sandra died in 2010 of an aortic aneurysm at the age of 72. Her lawyer described her final years as filled with grief — losing her daughter, husband, beloved chimp, and the traumatic incident with Nash.
The story of Travis and the attack was later featured in documentaries and inspired a scene in the Hollywood film Nope, drawing eerie parallels to what really happened.
Carla Nash, forever disfigured and blind, continues to live with the scars — physical and emotional — of an event that changed the conversation around exotic pet ownership in America.
