Tonia Haddix Biography
Tonia Haddix is none other than the owner of the famous chimpanzee called “Tonka” who is famous for starring in several Hollywood movies. She also goes by her nickname “Dolly Parton of Chimps.”
In our last post, we were talking about our UK brav😂 “Castillo_1st” but now we are headed back to the United States of America to see a little bit about Tonia Haddix who has been making waves on the internet lately.
Who is Tonia Haddix? First things first, would you ever be interested in owning a chimpanzee, it seems a little bit absurd but not to Tonia, owning a chimpanzee turned out great for her. You may have heard of “Tonka” the chimpanzee who has been making appearances in Hollywood movies since the 1990s, he was the chimpanzee in the 1997 films “George of the Jungle” and “Buddy”.
Before we talk a lot about Tonka let’s get back to our main topic, Tonia’s love for the chimps earned her a role in the brand new HBO TV series “Chimp Crazy”. She owns several exotic animals but seems much more interested and attached to her chimpanzees especially “Tonka”. She revealed that she has raised seven chimpanzees at the Missouri Primate Foundation and took over as their own from Connie Casey.
She loves Tonka so much that she even faked his death in 2021 to avoid the authorities who wanted to take him away from her.
According to her Facebook page, Haddix continues to raise exotic animals at or near her home in Sunrise Beach, where she is also involved in brokering monkeys to “their forever homes.” In 2023, she and her husband, Jerry Aswegan, expanded their passion for animals by opening a family-run zoo called Sunrise Beach Safari, located near Lake of the Ozarks.
Early Life and Childhood
Haddix grew up in Ozark, Missouri, She has however not spoken about her family or her childhood publicly. Before switching her career and focusing on exotic animals, Tonia used to work as a certified nurse in her initial career years.
Personal Life
Tonia was previously married to Gary Dean Haddix, an Oklahoma native who spent his career as a truck driver and later worked at Ruggles Farms. Gary passed away on December 4, 2020. After his passing, Sonia remarried in 2021 to Jerry Aswegan, who hails from the Kansas City area and operated a mobile petting zoo business. She has two children, Justin Range and Erica Range.
More About Tonia Haddix;
She is married to Jerry Aswegan.
She is 5 feet 6 inches tall.
Her age is still unknown.
