The search for Moe the chimp continues

St. James Davis, who rescued the chimp from poachers in the 1960s, sat in a wheelchair and struggled to speak as he told of the hunt taking place above Jungle Exotics, which houses wild animals used in the movie and television industry. It was Moe’s fourth home since authorities removed him from the Davises’ West Covina home after he mauled a police officer’s hand and bit off a woman’s fingertip in two 1998 incidents.’From the helicopter they did find a couple of water holes up there,’ Davis said. ‘They did see three black bears. Moe’s quite friendly with dogs and cats, but I don’t know if a wolf or a bobcat or something comes up, what’s going to happen. Hopefully he’ll run away or get in a tree.’Davis and his wife met with reporters at lawyer Gloria Allred’s Wilshire Boulevard office. She represented them in their earlier struggle to keep the chimp in their home.So far the search has been a privately organized affair, although San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies and firefighters have joined in the hunt, according to LaDonna Davis, St. James’ wife. A chartered helicopter has flown low over the San Bernardino National Forest in hopes of scaring the chimpanzee into the open.There have been scattered reports of missing chickens and garden hoses turned on in the vicinity of the hunt -- but no solid evidence that Moe is to blame.