Thread: Tarzan's jungle chum Cheetah dead at 80

•Chimpanzee from the Tarzan movies dies
•Died from kidney failure on Christmas Eve
•Wasn't a troublemaker, but still threw poo


CHEETAH the chimpanzee, who starred alongside Tarzan from the movies of the early 1930s through to the 1960s TV series, has died at the age of 80.
The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Florida announced that Cheetah had died of kidney failure on Christmas Eve.

Sanctuary outreach director Debbie Cobb told The Tampa Tribune that Cheetah was outgoing, loved finger painting and liked to see people laugh. She says he seemed to be tuned into human feelings.

Cheetah was the comic relief in the Tarzan series, originally starring American Olympic gold medal swimmer Johnny Weissmuller.

Ms Cobb says Cheetah came to the sanctuary from Weissmuller's estate sometime around 1960.

She says Cheetah wasn't a troublemaker. Still, sanctuary volunteer Ron Priest says that when the chimp put on the odd movie-star tantrum, he would throw faeces.



Read more:

Originally Posted by aa23

I had no idea monkeys even lived that long.

That was my first thought on hearing about it. They rarely live more than 40 years in the wild or 60 years in captivity. I read somewhere yesterday that there is controversy over it as the greatest age previously recorded was in the seventies.