Chimps are extremely dangerous animals. My boyfriend talked my ear off about this incident for weeks, and about the violent nature of chimps! They're smart and when they figure out that you're holding them captive and that they can overpower you, they will. And they always go for fingers, nose and eyes first, even when they're attacking prey in the jungle. They want to make your life not worth living if you do make it out alive.
well, there is no doubt that they have the ability to be dangerous, especially adult males, but to suggest that all captive chimps are merely waiting for an attempt to overpower and attack you is not correct.
while captivity is certainly not the ideal environment for a chimp, females and youngsters are not just waiting to be violent. they are wild animals, and anything could set them off, but it is not regular for females and adolescents to just become violent...
as for attacks, they also go for the groin...this is not because they "want to make your life not worth living if you survive" it is merely the fact that going for the most vulnerable part of an opponent is the surest way to disable an opponent.
they do not attack prey in the jungle like that at all, since they only attack much smaller species of monkey and other creautres and when they do, they are small enough that they are easily overcome.
they have no natural enemies, there is no prey that is their size, so the only enemies are other chimps, and attacking the genitals, hands, eyes and nose, is the way to disable an enemy in fights which many times, can be life and death.
they do not do it to be malicious. if you are being attacked, as a human, the wisest thing you can do is attack the most vulnerable parts of your attackers body...those spots which will allow you to win, or to buy yourself time to escape, or blunt the ability of the attacker to harm you.
a chimp who attacks another chimp and can blind them, or disable their hands, will prevail and survive.
chimpanzee violence and politics of chimp sociey is well documented by Goodal and others...
chimp attacks on humans are very rare, relative to the amount of chimp-human interaction, though there have been many cases of adult chimps snatching infants ffrom people and eating them...because they infant human is viewed as nothing more than the prey item of another species
it is instinct, not maliciousness.