I interviewed Cheeta (not the one from Florida) and owner in 2005. This was one big animal. I had to stand a few feet from him, just to be on the safe side. (Chimps can be fickle sometimes.)
As one of the most entertaining interviews I've ever had, that chimp wasn't the only one living with Cheeta in Palm Springs. His grandson lived there too.
The owner asked me to take off my shoes while observing the grandson. When I did, he went crazy, jetting from one side of his cage to another and grunting wildly.
The Florida chimp died today at 80, not the Cheeta in Palm Springs. The Desert Sun reported that much of our Palm Springs Cheeta story was fabricated.
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