As long as he was a youngster, Travis could be contained. But, like their human cousins, chimpanzees grow up and have a mind of their own. And, also like with human teenagers, we don’t always know what they’re thinking. Sandra Herold assumed that all was well, since Travis still slept in her bed, ate lobster at the table, drank from a long-stem wine glass, and behaved in all manner of other quasi-human ways that fulfilled whatever fantasy it was that she had about him.

In 2003, when he was 8 years old, Travis had his first bad behavior episode. While Sandra was taking him for a drive around town, he unbuckled his seat belt, let himself out of the car, lunged at a pedestrian, rolled around in the road, jumped on cars, and led the police on a chase through town for the next two hours. Police officers agreed that he was just being “playful”, but it should have been a warning sign, especially when primatologists told the animal control department that Travis was now an fully sexualized adult with the strength of five men.