Uhhh i saw someone i follow reblog a post with this image. didn’t feel comfortable reblogging it on my profile to tag you so I’ll send it here..

I don’t think this picture is cute.. at all.. got an explanation on the chimp’s expression?

(Apologies for the swearing, that was the caption on the image)

Oh, poor Travis may he rest in peace.

That expression is the fear grimace we talk about on the blog often. Many captive primates are trained to "smile" for photos like this. This training often uses cruel measures to get the fear grimace expression for human entertainment.

-Mod E

Mod E is correct in identifying this photo (and indeed, any photo of Travis) as cruel, but I’d love to provide you with more context for this tweet and the joke. Gorilla Radio Show is a podcast that is actually hosted by a chimp caretaker! You may know him as @pissvortex, a humour blogger that works with chimps in his offline life. While the podcast is perhaps focussed more on being humorous and entertaining than educational, Austin and his co-hosts actually discuss some interesting topics regarding human and ape interaction. They have done episodes about chimps in space programs, the ape NFT craze, and a feature episode about Travis himself.

While the sense of humour in the podcast may not be everyone’s cup of tea and may venture into controversial territory, I believe it can have a place in primate education. Not everyone is interested in earnestly sitting down and learning animal facts, and for those that listen for the ape jokes there are some genuinely good messages about primate welfare. Despite making jokes about Travis, the perspective promoted by the podcast is that Travis’ situation never should have happened and that primates should not be pets. I have listened to some of the podcast and I found that it is a lot easier to learn about some genuinely tragic and unfortunate ape stories (such as Travis) through a comical delivery. It can be depressing to tackle all the cruelty that primates have endured, so while I won’t definitively promote or condemn the podcast I do think it can be helpful for some. 

So while the photo is cruel, I hope it helps to know that it’s being used for a joke by someone who knows and understands that chimpanzees deserve to live out fully enriched lives that prioritizes their wellbeing over human wants.

-Mod J

Adam Lanza: Travis the Chimp

A compilation of Adam Lanza's preserved posts on 'Shocked Beyond Belief' about Travis the Chimp. Adam was noted by people who knew him to talk extensively about 'chimp society'.

Travis' Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_(chimpanzee)

Here is a link to the transcript of his appearance on the radio program: https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/lanza_anarchyradio_1.1.pdf

I can’t stop thinking abt how Gordy is basednoff Travis the chimp

like I watched it n was like “hmmm it’s familiar but i can’t recall the story” and literally came up on my yt feed lolz.

even the lady in the lace hat @ Jupe’s show (can’t recall her name) is based off the real victim

So I watched Nope finally. It's a good movie and I was looking through the tags and noticed that no one has seemed to make the connection of the disfigured co-star Mary Jo Elliott and Charla Nash? And Gordy to Travis the Chimp? Gordy did to Mary Jo exactly what Travis did to Charla.

Travis was a Chimp who was raised as if he was family by Sandra Herold and was also a star in a few shows. He was triggered one day by Charla holding one of his favorite toys (a tickle me Elmo doll) and he beat her and ate her face. Toxicology reports showed he had Xanax in his system too so it probably fucked with his rational too and contributing to him being triggered. And then Gordy was a Chimp raised in a family like he was a member and then attacked them after being triggered just like Travis had and subsequently, beat Mary Jo and ate her face. Both the real life Charla Nash and fictional Mary Jo escaped with their lives but their faces were horribly disfigured.

I just think the parallels there were interesting. When I saw the Gordy scene unfold and then saw Mary Jo later on, I couldn't help but think of the Travis the Chimp incident. And it's a real life case of Nope's warning that while you can get along with them and train them, animals are still just animals. They're unpredictable and you shouldn't asign 'humanness' to them expecting to get the result you would from a person. I wonder if that was inspiration for Gordy himself.

People saw an unfortunate story of an incredibly traumatizen chimp and all they got from it was "chimps are horrible evil creatures" and not "chimps are complex, intelligent but also potentially dangerous wild animals that we have to respect as such, and they don't belong in anybody's home for their and ours safety."

I very much relate to Travis the chimp

Which one of them would you rather not be trapped in a room with?

rest in peace big guy :((

The hatchingtide/little ladies day quests: look! We trained a goobbue to do tricks! 🥰 but wait! What’s this? She’s scared to perform in front of the crowd! 😲 Go cheer her up so she can bring joy to the people of Ul’dah! 💕

Me, who remembers Thancred and Minfilia’s Tragic Backstory and is having the entire plot of NOPE (2022) flashing through my mind at rapid speed:

I knew media literacy was dead when NOPE (2022) came out and way too many people couldn't understand the connections between Gordy, Jean Jacket, and the horses.

What do you think of the Travis the Chimp situation? It happened a little over 10 years ago but to this day it just bothers me.

Please check the FAQ and tags you'll find a bunch of previous posts. If you have any additional questions after checking that out, send them our way!

ok initially i was going to do some selfie thirst trap bull shit but i need to share with you the insane packaging and printing on these tshirts @swankyangles sent me. i was joking that i got anthrax mailed to me and then they showed up in biohazard bags LMFAO

After multiple news drops from Empire Magazine in the last week, Entertainment Weekly has their own article to add to the buzz for Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes.

This article reveals more about Noa's companions and the community they grew up in. Their names are Soona (played by Lydia Peckham) and Anaya (played by Travis Jeffery). Director Wes Ball describes their upbringing: "They were raised together and they live in this small, isolated tribe."

The article also shared two pieces of concept art for this apocalyptic world of nature reclaiming the ruins of humanity.

Finally watching The Fall of the House of Usher [spoilers]:

So a chimp is going to kill Camille and I KNOW a chimp is going to kill Camille because the episode is called "Murder in the Rue Morgue" which is NOT subtle, but also I have the episode paused like 50 minutes in right now because I'm TERRIFIED OF CHIMPANZEES

homophobia is so insane because how is it that the lgbt community can understand and recognize heterosexual love but when it comes to gay romance straight people are blind and resistant as can be even when it's the most obvious in your face The Directors Are Literally Telling You This Is Happening explicit shit ever.. like it's not funny or cute to me it's genuinely insulting and makes my stomach churn lol. the fact that you think my "otherness" is so foreign and non-human that you can't view our love as being normal and just as appropriate and real as yours isn't cute and your lack of basic empathy is not charming 🤨