Who is Tonia Haddix? The fascinating true story behind HBO's Chimp Crazy subject 

Chimp Crazy is HBO's latest documentary series released on HBO Max on August 18, 2024. The four-part documentary series created by Eric Goode (the creator of Tiger King) chronicles the story of Tonia Haddix, the caretaker of several exotic animals, including the famous chimpanzee Tonka.

Chimp Crazy is an eye-opening documentary series that delves into the unsettling and complex relationship between Tonia Haddix and the animals she harbored in her animal habitat. Tonia Haddix was particularly fond of chimpanzees, which resulted in an unhealthy obsession and a long standoff between her and various animal rights groups.

The documentary series tries to portray two sides of Tonia Haddix. One was a notorious animal broker who profited off of trading exotic animals, and the other was a chimpanzee lover who viewed them as her own sons. Although Chimp Crazy focuses heavily on Tonia Haddix, the documentary series also showcases other unsettling chimpanzee owners such as Sandra and Jerome Herold.

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Who is Tonia Haddix? All about the controversial chimp owner on Chimp Crazy

A still of Tonia Haddix from the documentary (image via HBO)

HBO recently released the documentary Chimp Crazy and Tonia Haddix is one of the focal subjects of the series. Tonia Rene Haddix is an ex-nurse who turned into an exotic animal broker. She is a native of Missouri who grew up in Ozark and was married to a trucker named Gary Dean Haddix. Following the death of her husband, she married Jerry Aswegan in 2021 who ran a mobile petting zoo business.

As per HBO, Tonia Haddix describes herself as the 'Dolly Parton" of Chimpanzees. Tonia Haddix ran a Chimp Nursery in Festus, Missouri where she raised numerous chimpanzees including the famous Chimpanzee Tonka. Tonka the Chimp was a Hollywood star who famously appeared in the 1992 movie Buddy along with Alan Cumming, and George of the Jungle starring Brendan Fraser. He was Tonia's favorite chimp although she used to keep him under dire conditions in a cage.

The documentary series suggests that Tonia Haddix has a polarizing personality where she shows extreme maternal instincts toward her chimpanzees however, in a juvenile manner she refuses to accept the deplorable conditions under which the chimpanzees were housed in her Festus breeding enclosure.

Tonia Haddix commented she loves the chimpanzees more than her own two children, Justin and Erica. Along with her husband Jerry, two of her children have accepted Tonia's emotional hierarchy, where she loves the chimpanzees more than her family.

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Tonia Haddix had faked Tonka's death and kept him in an enclosure

One of the major stories Chimp Crazy focuses on is how the U.S. Court had ordered Tonia to relinquish her chimps to an animal sanctuary following complaints from PETA regarding their deplorable conditions.

However, in 2021 when her chimps were being relinquished, Tonia Haddix lied to the officials saying that Tonka had passed away months before the judgment was passed. PETA had consistently disputed the account, claiming that Haddix's inconsistent statements and failure to provide any proof of Tonka's demise implied that she had, instead, secretly hidden him away to evade the court's directive.

The animal rights organization, however, did not get the necessary evidence until 2022, when Tonka was found in Haddix's basement in Sunrise Beach, Missouri. Although Haddix claimed that Tonka was living a great life, PETA showed that Tonka was not living in a healthy condition and was being deprived of exercise, fresh air, and companionship with other chimpanzees.

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Chimp Crazy premiered its first episode on August 18, 2024. Subsequent episodes will premiere on HBO Max each Sunday with the final episode scheduled to be available for streaming on September 8, 2024.