Tonia Haddix Is More Than a "Chimp Mom" — She's Also a Mom to Two Human Adults

Years after Tiger King, the same documentarians have again enraptured the world. But this time, they’re chronicling the story of Tonia Haddix and her chimpanzees in an HBO docuseries titled Chimp Crazy. The trailer shows an interview with Tonia’s son, Justin, who shares that his mother has been more “passionate” about her chimps than her own children.

Throughout Chimp Crazy, Tonia’s love for her chimps is often compared to her love for her children. Chimp Crazy follows Tonia’s battle with PETA over her favorite “child,” Tonka, along with the stories of a few other “chimp moms.” But Tonia really does have human children, so who are they and what are they doing now?

Very little about Tonia’s relationship with her actual children is shown in the first couple of Chimp Crazy episodes. But that doesn’t mean it’s not there. From the get-go, we learn about Tonia’s children when she speaks about her love for Tonka. “She has a special affection for Tonka, a 32-year-old retired Hollywood chimp — who she claims to love more than her own children,” the HBO press release states.

But this means that Tonia does have two adult children who may not have received the same love and affection she’s given to Tonka. In the trailer, Justin shares, “I’ve never seen her that passionate about anything in my entire life. Ever,” Justin quipped in the documentary. “And that includes her own son.”

Through some Facebook detective work, we found that Tonia’s son, Justin Range, works as a Certified Medical Assistant at two assisted living facilities, Life Enhancement Village of The Ozarks and Lakewood & The Arbors. He grew up in Ozark, Mo., although he now lives in Springfield, Mo. Justin was also very close to his grandmother, who passed away in 2021.

Justin’s sister, Erica Range, also lives in Missouri in a town called Nixa. She works as a Certified Nursing Assistant/Home Health Aid (CNA/HHA). Like their mother, Justin and Erica have garnered a caring instinct as they both care for those who need it in their professions. But unlike their mother, it seems they aren’t obsessed with chimps, even if Erica has posted the rare chimpanzee photo.

Little else is known about Justin and Erica, although People stated that Tonia is also a grandmother. It’s unclear which of her children are parents, and it’s also possible that Tonia is a step-grandparent to the grandchildren of her second husband, Jerry Aswegan.

While Tonia and other “chimp moms” claim to love their chimps as their own children, some netizens have found troublesome patterns among the “chimp moms.” Tonia says about chimps in the trailer, “You can shape them into being you,” which is an unhealthy parental attitude towards one’s own children.

In addition, a New York Magazine article chronicled chimp mom Sandy Herold’s complicated relationship with her human daughter, Sue, and her chimp son, Travis. When Sue grew up and became less close to her mother, Sandy leaned further into caring for Travis as if he were her biological son. So the phenomenon may be more common than we thought before watching Chimp Crazy.