Human Rights for Chimpanzees

A chimpanzee named Hiasl is at the center of a new controversy. For the past 25 years, Hiasl lived at an animal sanctuary in Austria which is now closing. In order to stop him from being sold to a vivisection laboratory, Paula Stibbe, a British woman, with the help of several experts in the field of primatology and anthropology, are trying to persuade Austrian courts that he deserves the same protections as a child, and to allow her to become his legal guardian. As legal guardianship can only be administered to another human, they intend to present the case that Hiasl is close enough to being human because a chimpanzee's DNA is a 97% match to human DNA. Furthermore, they will argue that his ability to recognize himself in a mirror and play hide and seek with sanctuary visitors, is proof of "self-awareness". Additional arguments for chimpanzees could include their known use of "toolkits" and emotional equivalence to human children.

Chimpanzees may be smart, but many of the higher primates are equally intelligent, too. Many of us have heard of Koko, the gorilla who learned over 1000 sign language signs, and even some spoken English. It logically follows that the establishment of rights for chimpanzees would transcend to the higher orders of primates. Equivalet rights between humans and primates carry in extraordinary number of social implications ranging from medical experimentation to social obligations.

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