Stolen statue of Cheeta returned to the sanctuary
Published: January 16, 2005
The bronze chimp that marks the home of Hollywood’s beloved Cheeta has been returned.
Stolen during Christmas week from the Casa de Cheeta primate sanctuary where the retired movie star ape makes his home, the 90-pound statue was returned by a Palm Springs resident who had bought it.
According to Dan Westfall, who operates the sanctuary, a resident from less than 2 miles away put a note in the mailbox saying he had purchased it off the person who had stolen it.
“He was nice enough to let me know he thought he had it,” Westfall said, noting the man didn’t know the statue had been stolen.
As for the star of the Tarzan movies and “Dr. Doolittle,”? “He was excited to see it. He was just happy. He knew it was missing.”
Cheeta, the world’s oldest known living chimpanzee, is 72, about 20 years past the 50-year average life-expectancy for chimpanzees in captivity.
He lives with 11 other primates in the sanctuary operated by Westfall at 1033 Francis Drive. The sanctuary isn’t open to the public, but tour buses of celebrity homes make the facade a regular stop.
Westfall, director of CHEETA, Committee to Help the Environment of Endangered and Threatened Apes, the nonprofit that runs the sanctuary, had made a public call for the return of the statue.
“We’re happy to have it back and Cheetah’s happy to have it back,” Westfall said. “It’s going to be welded down. It was chained down before and the lock was picked,” he said.
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