Cheetah Has Died
Cheetah, a chimpanzee who starred alongside Tarzan in the franchise films of the early 1930s, died Saturday. He had experienced kidney failure earlier that week, and was thought to be 80 years old.
The average captive chimp lives to be about 60.
OMG, that is incredible
ReplyDeleteI had no ideas their life span was so long, even 60 years. I wish dogs could have the same.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really cool that you did a post on this, Enty :))
ReplyDeleteRIP Cheetah- you lived a hellava long life. Though it sucks you were captive.
Also, Cheetah is a dumb name for a freaking CHIMP. Why didnt they just name him Flipper, while they were brainstorming these 'fantastic' names for him.
ReplyDeleteWell, after all, the guys name was Tarzan! Cheetah was about as good as it was going to get.
ReplyDeleteIs this the same monkey that played with Regan?
I agree with Jasmine. And I'm surprised to find Cheetah was still alive in 2011!
ReplyDeleteahhh i remember these movies as a kid (reruns thankyouverymuch)
ReplyDeletesad news, RIP Mr. Cheetah.
I read it this morning...amazing
ReplyDeleteWasn't Bonzo the one who played with Reagan?
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to whether they live longer in the wild or in captivity.
I was reading about this chimp on a Yahoo story. He was more talented than the Kardashians all put together.
ReplyDelete@Momster LMAO!! Right on the money!
ReplyDeleteCheetah smoked and drank beer up until about ten years ago when his original owners died out. If he hadn't done that, who knows how long he'd have lived. He had his own vet, which most chimps don't often have.
ReplyDeleteNow it looks like this might just be a hoax. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/cheetah-the-chimp-death-hoax_n_1173404.html?ref=entertainment
ReplyDeleteI thought I heard on Wait Wait that while they tell everyone this is (was) Cheetah that it was a big story and Cheetah actually died years ago. Also according to Wiki there have been several "Cheetah's"
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheeta
I think this story is a hoax. I don't think chimps live that long.
ReplyDeleteMomster you made me not only LOL but type LOL. Which, for whatever reason, I rarely do.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a hoax. There were several Cheetahs, however this old guy was one of them. Chimps in captivity live to be 50-60. Chimps with medical care and a nutritionist (to say nothing of temperature controlled habitats) live longer. Humans are closely related to chimps. We live to be in our 80s as a matter of course.
ReplyDeleteThere have been a couple of journalists bent on revisionism, but the fake Cheetah stuff was debunked long ago. The chain of custody of this old fellow is fairly clear -- he had outlived a couple of handlers, but the records are there. He was A Cheetah ... only Tarzan and Jane know if he was one of the primary "little bastards" ... as he was known on the set. Chimps aren't friendly co-stars.