Legal Rights for non-human primates

With mounting scientific evidence that great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans) have emotional lives, families, complex societies and acquire knowledge they pass down from generation to generation, it is becoming harder for us humans to deny them basic rights.

This is why the Great Ape Project (GAP) came to life.  The goal of this project is to remove apes from the legal realm of mere "property" and grant them the right to life and protection from torture.

Although the articles I am including in today's post are somewhat dated, they are still relevant today.

The first is a link to a page on the GAP website.  In June this year, the Spanish Congress announced its support of the Great Ape Project (GAP) - a milestone which hopefully will encourage other governments to take measures for the protection of great apes worldwide.

The second is about a legal case in Austria, where an animal rights group (VGT) asked earlier this year for a chimpanzee named Matthew to be considered a person so that a legal guardian could be appointed when the shelter in which he spent most of his life closed.   I have not found out yet what the final outcome of the case is, but will continue to look.