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| Why You No Believe? |
Unfortunately for anyone who thought that the story was an interesting tidbit about an animal actor from the 1930s who retired to Florida and lived the life of a stereotypical old person, they are now going to have to spend the next few days being media-blasted by claims that "Cheetah" was a fake and that there is no way a chimpanzee can live to be 80 years-old.
With no way to prove the actual identity of "Cheetah" (the Sanctuary claims that a fire in 1995 destroyed documentation on various chimps) the accusations are becoming quite nasty and it won't belong before lawsuits are being filed.
But here's my question to the people involved: Does it really matter?
Okay so maybe an 80 year-old chimp isn't something that happens all the time (some scientific data shows that a chimp in the wild can reach the age of 40 to 50 years while a chimp living in captivity can live to be 60) but seeing that the life expectancy for a human being (dependent upon where they live) hovers between 70-78 years and we know that there are people who can live 20+ years beyond that, there's always a chance that a chimpanzee living in captivity could very well live longer than the average age.
So maybe it is Cheetah and maybe it's just a chimp named Cheetah, who cares.
Perhaps we should move on to something a little more relevant to the world...like how I can't look at Bruce Jenner anymore without seeing the face of a 60 year-old woman.
(shudder)
Source: The Hollywood reporter
