Chimp & Human 'Parents' Reunite

WEST COVINA, Calif., Oct. 15, 2004 — -- When Moe the chimp was taken away from St. James and LaDonna Davis five years ago, the couple felt as if they lost their only child.

"We participated in almost anything that a normal family would do ... it was a remarkable situation," LaDonna Davis said on ABC News' "Good Morning America."

The Davises raised Moe in their own home after finding him in Tanzania in the 1960s, after his mother was killed by poachers.

They said Moe was part of their family until the chimp was exiled to California's Wildlife Waystation in Angeles National Forest five years ago.

The family was abruptly torn apart in 1999 after the chimp bit two people. Los Angeles County health officials took Moe away after he bit a West Covina police officer badly enough to require surgery. The chimp had also chomped on the finger of one of their neighbors.

Since then, Moe has lived at the Wildlife Waystation, hours from the Davis home in West Covina.

The Davises had been permitted weekly visits until agencies regulating animal facilities ruled that the couple's visits amounted to unauthorized animal exhibition.

Now, after years of legal wrangling, spearheaded by attorney Gloria Allred, the Davises will be able to spend every weekend with Moe.

The chimp is being moved to an animal facility in Lake Isabella, Calif., which is about three hours from the Davises' home.

The couple plans on bringing a trailer to Moe's new home so they can spend each weekend there from now on.

Allred has said that the long-awaited reunion was worth the fight.

"Moe is just a very loving chimp, and LaDonna and St. James are like their human parents and they have given him so much love over the years and he has returned that love," Allred said.

St. James Davis says he can't wait to spend some quality time with Moe again.

"I just want to comfort him, let him know that he hasn't been forgotten. He doesn't understand probably as much work that's been put in this to get this to happen, so I want to make it enjoyable for him," he said.