God help me I'm starting a Chimp thread. This story was in this mornings paper :

'Tarzan's' Cheeta hits 74

Apr. 12, 2006 12:00 AM

Cheeta the chimp, star of a dozen Tarzan movies in the 1930s and 1940s, celebrated his 74th birthday Sunday in Palm Springs, Calif., with sugar-free cake.

The world's oldest chimp, according to Guinness World Records, Cheeta is diabetic but otherwise healthy and active.

Chimps rarely live past the age of 40 in the wild, but they can live longer in captivity. advertisement




The graying, 150-pound Cheeta is one of six primates at Creative Habitats and Enrichment for Endangered and Threatened Apes (or CHEETA), said keeper Dan Westfall, operator of the primate sanctuary.

"He still has every tooth in his head," Westfall said.

Cheeta likes to paint, pieces that are sold to raise money for the non-profit sanctuary.

Westfall adopted Cheeta in 1992 from his uncle, Tony Gentry, a Hollywood animal trainer.

- Associated Press