Bittersweet: The World's Oldest Chimpanzee

Cheeta with Maureen O'Sullivan and Johnny Weissmuller
in TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932)

Cheeta with friend and caretaker Dan Westfall, ca. 2003

I recently ran across the information that Cheeta, one of the chimpanzees who acted in the classic Hollywood Tarzan movies of the 1930s and '40s, is still alive. It's a bittersweet story, told in full by National Geographic News.

Cheeta turned 73 on April 9th of this year, making him the oldest documented chimpanzee in the world. Experts say wild chimpanzees live an average of 45 years. Chimps in captivity tend to live longer, but Cheeta's great age is exceptional. He is the last surviving member of the group of chimpanzees who played the character of Tarzan's sidekick, "Cheeta", in the MGM movies. Over the course of the 10 years the movies were made, it was necessary to change the chimpanzee actor several times, as generally only very young chimps -- two to three years old -- are tractable enough to use in entertainment. That explains why "Cheeta" was always a youngster and why she was sometimes female and sometimes male.

Cheeta lives at the CHEETA Primate Sanctuary in Palm Springs, California, with Dan Westfall, who founded the non-profit sanctuary when he adopted Cheeta. Westfall is the nephew of Tom Gentry, the animal trainer who originally brought Cheeta to America from Africa. (I don't know if Gentry bought Cheeta or trapped him himself. Either way, you can be fairly sure Cheeta's mother was killed in the acquisition.)

Cheeta is not living a normal chimpanzee life; he never has. However, it's obvious that Westfall loves him and is dedicated to giving him and his companions -- more primates "retired" from the entertainment industry -- the best possible life he can. The sanctuary accepts donations, and, for a certain amount, offers "Ape-Stract" paintings by Cheeta.

As a child, I loved seeing Cheeta in the movies, without understanding what his captivity meant. As an adult, I know how cruel it is to force chimpanzees (and other primates) to "act" for our entertainment. No-one can give Cheeta back the life he should have had, but it is comforting to know he is well-loved and well-taken care of in his old age.