ST. LOUIS — Federal authorities arrested the former caretaker of a movie star chimpanzee this week after yet another ape was found living in the basement of her Sunrise Beach home.
Federal prosecutors say Tonia Haddix, who was featured in the HBO documentary series “Chimp Crazy,†violated the terms of her bond and an agreement in a civil lawsuit by keeping a mature female chimpanzee in her basement.
Haddix appeared Tuesday in a 51ºÚÁÏ federal courtroom without her signature curly blonde wig or colorful lipstick. Instead, she wore a black and white-striped jail uniform and mostly kept her head down.
“Are you feeling OK right now?†U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Cohen asked her.
“No,†Haddix replied.
Tonka the chimpanzee roams his surroundings at the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Fla.
Haddix explained she had been hospitalized for an unidentified medical episode when she was arrested by U.S. Marshals over the weekend.
People are also reading…
Cohen then asked Haddix if she was well enough to complete an initial first appearance. Haddix said she could.
Tuesday’s hearing marked the latest in a nearly decadelong legal saga about Haddix and her now-defunct Missouri Primate Foundation.
In 2017, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the U.S. animal rights nonprofit, sued her. PETA claimed she kept several chimpanzees — including movie star Tonka, who appeared in the 1997 movies “Buddy†and “George of the Jungle†— in inadequate conditions.
Haddix signed an agreement three years later to send four of the chimps to a sanctuary in Florida. The order allowed her to keep three chimps, including Tonka.
But she failed to comply with the conditions of that agreement, PETA said. Sheriff’s deputies and marshals arrived at the facility and removed the remaining chimps in 2021.
Tonka, however, wasn’t there.
Haddix’s husband claimed Tonka had died of congestive heart failure. He signed an affidavit claiming he’d cremated the body.
But in May 2022, PETA learned that Tonka was still alive. Authorities removed him from a cage in the basement of her home in Sunrise Beach, near Lake of the Ozarks, and took him to a primate sanctuary in Florida.
“I lied to them,†Haddix told the Post-Dispatch in June 2022. “I did it to protect (Tonka) from the evil clutches of PETA. He is like a son to me. I love him as much as I do my own children, maybe more.â€
Last year, PETA lawyers filed to hold her in contempt for similar admissions made to a film crew in the “Chimp Crazy†documentary. PETA said she was profiting off her defiance of court orders by, for instance, recording the “Chimp Crazy Lady Show†podcast and selling messages on the social platform Cameo, which allows fans to pay celebrities to record personalized video messages.
The federal judge referred the accusations to prosecutors, and they promised to investigate.
But, before she could be charged, Haddix reached an agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty in April to lying to the court about Tonka’s death.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark allowed Haddix to remain out on bond to live in Sunrise Beach. But he warned her that he’d be keeping close tabs on her.
On July 9, federal authorities searched Haddix’s home and found the female chimp in the basement, federal prosecutor Hal Goldsmith said in court Tuesday.
Goldsmith didn’t say what tipped off authorities, and documents regarding that search warrant are still not public.
But he said the discovery of the second chimp breached several conditions of Haddix’s release, including violating a state criminal statute by holding an unregistered animal.
Haddix’s lawyer declined comment Tuesday outside the courtroom.
The judge set a hearing to decide whether her bond will be revoked for Thursday at 2 p.m. She is still awaiting sentencing in her underlying federal case.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture tens of thousands of images every year. See some of their best work that was either taken in June 2025 in this video. Edited by Jenna Jones.
