I couldn't make this stuff up...

Chimps are very aggressive and can be almost as dangerous as their closest current relatives living in the wild: home sapiens. Chimps are not really suitable for captive living especially in medical settings, they tend to resent it. (Not to mention it's wrong)

My point wasn't that I would not have shot the animal given the circumstances, my wife works with them as well as gorilla's (no comments please ) and I know how dangerous they are. Just watch their eyes it's uncanny, big cats either ignore you or watch you like a bird, elephants keep an eye on you but as long as you stay away from them the typically won't hurt you, chimps see you as slightly taller and weaker one of them. Pan troglodytes remembers every insult, hurt and slight and will not just seek to kill you but will actually seek to maximize the pain you feel as he does so.

I would think at a minimum you would need 357 magnum or above as well as very steady hand and extremely quick reflexes to stand a chance.

An angry Chimp isn't a joke.

Several years ago, there was a guy who toured with small carnivals with a 90-pound male Chimp named "Joe."

He was a regular at the King fair in NC. King was my old hometown before moving here.

The rules were simple. If anyone could best Joe in a no-holds barred slugfest, there was a 200-dollar prize. It cost 5 bucks to try him on for size.
He was equipped with boxing gloves for the safety of his opponents.

In the 20-odd years that Joe "performed" at the King fair...the guy never paid anyone the 200 clams. Ever. He even whipped a pair big football players from Wake Forest at the same time...given a special "Two-fer" by Joe's buddy and handler.

The only thing was that Joe hated the smell of alcohol on your breath, and it enraged him. If you entered the ring while drinking, you did so at your own risk. One of the young lions that night had been drinking. Joe broke both of his arms and one of his legs.

The Humane Society investigated once...watching from the crowd of spectators...fully expecting to get evidence of cruelty to animals that would let them take Joe. They left in shock...considered a Society to Prevent anyone from challenging Joe.

Joe was always a true sportsman. He always gave those whom he had beaten down a gentle hug as they were being led dazed out of the ring...if they were actually still able to walk.

Well...Except those who had been drinking. He sat in his corner and glared at the imbibers of John Barleycorn as they were carried out.

So...no. An aggressive, enraged Chimp is no laughing matter. They're faster than you can believe and they're stupid strong.

Flailing arms is not what i call dangerous. Are cops trained now days to shoot anytime the have a chance to?

Cornman the next time a chimp breaks out we'll get them to call you instead ok?

I prefer to keep my distance...yes they are animals and should be treated with respect; for no other reason, other than their strength. They are ANIMALS, very big difference then a human being! (another discussion on its own). I would be curious to know, what kind of "testing" they are doing! 3 in the last 5 months? something needs to be investigated!

The effectiveness of the round is EXACTLY the same on a 100 pound chimp as it would be on a 100 pound human.

That's it, really. It is physically exact with the possible exception of a little more muscle where there would be fat on a human.

Having said that, who can guess why the shot was ineffective in the above story?

The answer is training. Humans are trained. We watch TV and we watch movies and so we are taught that when we are shot, we fall over. We are taught that when we are shot, we die from that shot.

An animal wouldn't flinch away from a gun like a human would. Is there any doubt to this? Try this experiment with a friend. Take a cold iron and push the metal faceplate against someone without warning. The person will almost always flinch away, maybe even scream. Why? Because we are taught that irons are hot, even when they're not hot.

Push an iron against your dog and he'll just look at you like you're an idiot.

Humans tend to react the way they think they're supposed to react, animals are far more stimulus/response oriented.

estimates of their strength run between 7 and 12 times that of a human

Click to expand...

Why is that? Did they get some super duper muscle gene ingredient or did humans just get short changed? Do they just work out more?

Sounded to me like the article author went out of his way to make the officer sound like Barney Fife.

estimates of their strength run between 7 and 12 times that of a human

Click to expand...

I believe it's 5-7 times for males, depending on the age of the Chimp...and that's an average size comparison...not pound for pound.

Try to keep a little Spider Monkey from taking something out of your hand that he really wants, and you can get a fair idea of how it would go with an 80-pound Chimpanzee.

I read a Dean Koontz novel involving monkeys with genetically enhanced intelligence and an extremely bad mean streak several years ago. One of the protagonists was carrying a Mossburg 500. My 12 guage has been referred to as the monkey gun ever since.

estimates of their strength run between 7 and 12 times that of a human

Click to expand...

Why is that? Did they get some super duper muscle gene ingredient or did humans just get short changed? Do they just work out more?

Click to expand...

I don't know why, ape testosterone I guess. As a rule animals usually put humans to shame with their physical strength and speed.

And estimates of chimp strength do vary, I remember one ape expert saying 7-12, and in the very article I quoted a different range was listed, and others here have posted figures as low as 5-7. Perhaps some of the higher figures are calculated as times-stronger-per-pound and the lower ones are a straight comparison.

Even if we assume the low end and 5-7 is accurate, it's still amazingly powerful. It would be like Woody Allen vs Mike Tyson.

Why is that? Did they get some super duper muscle gene ingredient or did humans just get short changed

Click to expand...

It's got a lot to do with muscle density and how it's attached to the bone...Leverage, etc.

Like that average-lookin' guy we all know who...no matter who he arm wrestles with...just seems to slap everybody's knuckles on the table with very little apparent effort.

lacoochee, MD Anderson is on the cutting edge in cancer research. I pray you never find yourself in a position where you need the benefits of their valuable research.

I got bit by a monkey once. After the ebola cleared up, I really wanted to shoot that monkey. I hate monkeys.

In Africa, chimpanzees raid villages and eat babies and children. Ecologically, they're arboreal wolves. Pack hunting, smart, carnivorous, and dangerous.

And perhaps the phrase "Clyde, scrap the caddy" might mean something to some of you? That was an Orangutan, but the principle is the same. These are species who can hang upside down by one arm and perform incredible gymnastics because their arm articulations have phenomenal leverage.

People just don't realize how dangerous animals can be. We're around moderately civilized humans most of the time and don't understand the immense potential for harm that comes from something that isn't conditioned through society or domestication to be docile and harmless.

Just look how dangerous a violent drunk is, and then amplify with natural instincts, no inhibitions, and in the case of a chimpanzee, immense strength.

so this is what we're at now? cops talking to monkeys? i live in austin and i go to school at UT. i can tell you the street cops in austin are worthless and now apparently campus cops talk to monkeys. more frustration....

In Africa, chimpanzees raid villages and eat babies and children. Ecologically, they're arboreal wolves. Pack hunting, smart, carnivorous, and dangerous.

Click to expand...

Bingo.

We've probably become so enamored with the Chimp because of old Tarzan & Jane reruns that depicted "Cheetah" as the playful, mischievous family pet....and we came to believe that was representative of the species.

Unsocialized with humans, adult Chimpanzees are bad news. Even the "trained" ones can turn nasty without warning.

When the story about the escaped Chimp came out, there was a fellow who called into the local radio station in Austin about Chimps. He had witnessed an attack while in Africa in some kind of preserve as I recall. There were it seems like two guys and maybe some others in a vehicle and took a wrong turn down a road. They were trying to back out and were surrounded by Chimps. One came through the back window like it was water and grabbed this guy's friend. When it was all said and done the friend did not have a lower jaw, hands, feet, groin, and was disemboweled. He said this attack was re-created on the Discovery channel or something similar (don't recall exactly), and that this re-creation was not totally correct, but was pretty close to right.

We've probably become so enamored with the Chimp because of old Tarzan & Jane reruns that depicted "Cheetah" as the playful, mischievous family pet.

Click to expand...

Apparently Cheeta is still alive, and is 76 years old.

This thread pulled up a memory...

from Life magazine, long ago. A lion was chasing a chimp. Intelligently, the chimp ran, un-intelligently, as the lion neared, he turned and exposed his teeth to deter the lion. P.S. It didn't work. The brutal exchange left an idelible mark on me, leaving me a proponent of .45 to slide lock.
I don't want to know about chimps that eat lions!!http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=468644&in_page_id=1965

I completely agree with the cop. It was probably out of pure instinct he yelled at the chimp. And I would definitely shoot the crazy animal running at me in a threatening manner with the biggest caliber available to me at the time. I would do the same to a dog, a raccoon, or a sewer rat if they were behaving in a threatening way.

BTW, I carry a 9mm full of hydrashock, so thats what I would use, but given the option from my (small but growing) collection, It would be the SKS. Semi-auto rifle accuracy and power will win in my book any day.

The distance from your biceps attachment point to your elbow is about 3". Increase this to 4.5", and you can now curl 50% more weight. This is partially why chimps are so strong.