The owner of the domesticated animal, who was shot dead by police, claimed she had given Travis some Xanax just a few minutes before the attack in Connecticut that nearly killed her friend.
Sandra Herold (70) admitted to US news channel NBC that she had put Xanax in some tea she made for her pet because he was being rowdy. She later denied her earlier statement and said that the chimp had not been on drugs.
The animal started the horrific attack on Charla Nash (55) as she arrived at Sandra's house - biting off some of her fingers and tearing off her skin.
“He ripped her face off!” Sandra screamed to police over the phone. They shot the 14-year-old chimp dead when they arrived on the scene.
Xanax is used to prevent fear and unrest, but can sometimes cause the opposite affect in unstable people. The symptoms can often be exaggerated in apes, says Dr. Emil Coccaro, head of psychiatry at the Chicago Medical Center.
Herold has denied that she regularly gave the drug to her pet chimp, which she said “couldn't have been more like my son if I'd given birth to him”.
When Travis started attacking her friend, Sandra was forced to stab her “baby” with a kitchen knife, but the 90kg animal was too strong for her.
Nash was rushed to hospital and has since been operated on by teams of surgeons, including plastic and orthopaedic surgeons. She is still in a critical condition.
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