WHERE’S TONKA?

Alan Cumming Ups His Desperate Search for Missing Chimpanzee Co-Star

The actor is offering $10,000 for information on the whereabouts of his ape friend, who was last seen in a shady Missouri animal facility.

Alan Cumming is intent on covering all bases in the search for his missing former co-star, from chimpan-A to chimpan-Z. On Thursday, the actor offered up a $10,000 reward for anyone with information to offer on the whereabouts of Tonka, the primate actor who starred alongside Cumming in the 1997 flick Buddy. Tonka was last seen in a controversial ape facility in Missouri, a business that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) claims faked Tonka’s death and is hiding him in violation of a court order. “It’s horrible to think he might [be] 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 [and] claim the reward,” Cumming said. In 2016, PETA filed a lawsuit against the Missouri Primate Foundation, accusing it of confining its animals “in cramped, virtually barren enclosures.” A year later, Cumming began lending his star power to free Tonka. The foundation continues to insist that the chimp died of a stroke last May.