CHRISSY'S Story

Anne Case speaks in a soft southern drawl as she talks about her love of animals. She and her husband Jim, a computer scientist, at one time invested in and managed an animal sanctuary called the 'Limestone Zoological Park and Exotic Wildlife Refuge'. While the small zoo was open to the public, the adjacent 200-acre nature preserve was not. It was intended to be a place where animals could spend their golden years in a more natural setting, enjoying peace and quiet without interruption from humans.

The park held a number of exotic species including tigers, leopards, bears, and lions. It was promoted as a non-profit corporation that operated strictly on donations of time, money, and materials from local residents and businesses.

Chimp Chrissy: Life as a film star over at three

Chimp Chrissy in her role for the film, Babe: Pig in the City.

But it was back in 1999 – when Anne received a call from Hollywood animal trainer Steve Martin who was just wrapping up production of the film ' Babe: Pig in the City'. He asked Anne if she would take a three-year-old chimpanzee named 'Chrissy' that had had a very difficult time during the production. Chrissy was quite ill, plagued with stomach ulcers and Martin felt that she would not survive for long. Anne and her husband had previously accepted a male chimp named 'Freddy' from Steve Martin's Working Wildlife and Martin's offer of Chrissy was quickly accepted.

Chrissy was born December 20, 1994, at a roadside zoo in Palm Harbour, Florida called 'The Chimp Farm, Inc." (read more about this zoo) to two entertainment business veterans, Mary and Magillian. She was taken from her parents on December 20, 1996 and sold to Steve Martin, a long-time wildlife trainer who supplied animals to movies and other areas of show business. Martin then sent Chrissy to Anne Case on 14th of June, 1998.

Chrissy was nursed back to health after her movie role.

Steve Martin had Chrissy placed in a crate and sent from the movie set in New Zealand to California where she was examined and then crated up again and flown to Birmingham, Alabama where Anne Case and her husband picked her up. Anne remembers just how weak and frail Chrissy was at the time – and how she clung to Anne from the very first contact.

Anne devoted most of her time over the next year to care and nurse Chrissy back to health. In the process they became almost inseparable.

Chimpanzee, part of the family

Since that time much has happened. Anne Case's park and wildlife refuge has closed down. The costs of general maintenance and animal upkeep overtook what public interest and support there was and Anne could no longer financially maintain the park. She and her husband had, for years, covered costs with their own savings and volunteer labour – so much so that they finally went into debt.

Some of the animals, such as the deer, were freed; others were sold off to neighbouring zoos. But the Cases decided to keep both Freddy and Chrissy as pets.

Chrissy is one of the lucky ones. She'll live the rest of her days at an animal sanctuary in Florida.

Anne stated that many of her friends actually suggested that she consider breeding Chrissy and Freddy in order to recoup their financial losses. She decided not to. To her the relationship with the chimps was almost like family – with Jim taking care of Freddy, taking him for occasional walks around their property, and she spending time caring for Chrissy.

Her devotion to the chimps somewhat blinded her and her husband to the growing challenges that the now 15-year-old Freddy and 10-year-old Chrissy were beginning to cause. As the chimps aged they became more independent, harder to handle and, at times, overtly aggressive. It became quite clear that they did not like people, especially strangers.

Finding a new home for aging chimpanzees

Anne realized that something had to be done. So, she contacted Carol Noon, the Director of 'Save the Chimps' based in Florida, and asked if she would take both chimpanzees to her 200-acre sanctuary in Florida. Carol Noon agreed to accept Freddy and Chrissy on the condition that they first be placed at her facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico and undergo a lengthy integration with other chimps. According to Noon, chimpanzees that were trained for show business are considered to be most dysfunctional and hardest to assimilate with other primates.

It was difficult to say good-bye to Chrissy and Freddy but Anne knows that she has done the right thing. Her time with Chrissy has caused her to completely rethink how chimpanzees are used by the entertainment world. She is now against their use in circuses, television programs and movies.

Chrissy is still at the 'Save the Chimps' facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico. She will soon be transferred to the 'Save the Chimps' Sanctuary near Fort Pierce, Florida to live out her remaining life.