Alan Cumming is on the hunt for a missing co-star. Variety reports that actor Alan Cumming is offering $10,000 to the person who has any leads on the location of his missing chimpanzee co-star, Tonka.
Cumming co-starred in the 1997 film Buddy alongside chimpanzee actor Tonka and human actor Rene Russo. Tonka’s last known location was in the cage at the chimpanzee breeding facility Missouri Primate Foundation in Festus, Mo, which is now closed. The location bred chimpanzees and rented them out for movies or parties, or they were sold to private owners (gross). Cumming is offering a $10,000 reward to any individual who has information about Tonka’s whereabouts.
Cumming said in a statement:
“During the months we filmed together, baby Tonka and I became good friends, playing and grooming each other and just generally larking about. It’s horrible to think he might in a cage in a dark basement somewhere or have met some other fate, so I’m appealing to whoever knows what has become of him to please come forward claim the reward.”
PETA, which originally sued the Missouri facility over its appalling living conditions, is offering an additional $10,000 to anyone who comes forward with intel about Tonka, making the reward total $20,000.
“If you know where Cumming’s former co-star may have been shipped, sold or hidden away, PETA wants to hear from you,” PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet said, per Variety. “If he’s still alive, Tonka deserves to live out the rest of his days surrounded by chimpanzee friends at a lush sanctuary, as ordered by the court, and someone out there might be able to help PETA get him there.”
Anyone with any information about Tonka can call PETA at 757-622-PETA, or submit tips at PETA.org/Tonka.
