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Argentina Grants an Orangutan HumanLike Rights

An appeals court sets a precedent by giving an ape legal rights to life, liberty and freedom from
harm
January 9, 2015 |By Valeria Romn | Valo en espaol

The courts decision will lead to another proceeding on the orangutans behalf to find a home
outside the zoos cages where Sandra, born in captivity in Germany in 1986, has lived for the last
20 years.
Credit: Buenos Aires Zoo
For the first time anywhere, an ape has received the same basic rights as her human captors. The
female orangutan, whose home is the Buenos Aires Zoo, was the beneficiary on December 18 of
the decision by a high-level Argentine criminal appeals court.
The ruling will change forever the life of this hybrid of two orangutan speciesone from
Borneo, the other from Sumatraand may ultimately spur the nascent movement to set free
other animals living in captivity.
In Argentina, at least, Sandra now has the right to life, liberty and freedom from harm. The
ruling was historic because before a nonhuman primate like Sandra was considered an object and
therefore there was no dispute about its captivity, says Andrs Gil Dominguez of the Association
of Professional Lawyers for Animal Rights in Argentina, which filed a habeas corpus petition for
Sandra, asserting that she had been unjustifably denied her freedom.

The courts decision will lead to another proceeding on the orangutans behalf to find a home
outside the zoos cages where Sandra, born in captivity in Germany in 1986, has lived for the last
20 years. The Argentine justice system will now convene a committee of experts to find a
sanctuary or another home for Sandra, as long as the aging orang is healthy enough to travel
elsewhere.
Sandras case began when a nongovernmental organization filed for her habeas corpus in
November, an unsuccessful petition that was later heard by the appeals court. Interest in
procuring the orangs freedom dates back to 2012 when a previous administration at the Buenos
Aires Zoo, led by zoologist Claudio Bertonatti, had considered the possibility of sending the ape
to a sanctuary but never took any action.
Sandras case will likely energize other legal efforts for other animalsin particular, 17
chimpanzees in zoos throughout Argentina. Considering that they are very close to human
primates, it is an absurdity that they are still in captivity in prison," says primatologist Aldo
Gidice of the University of Buenos Aires.
Before Sandras case other legal claims were filed for zoo primates in the Argentine provinces of
Crdoba, Ro Negro, Santiago del Estero and Entre Rios. Outside of Argentina there was a case
in 2005 for a chimpanzee, Suia, in the zoo in San Salvador, Brazil, but the animal died before
the case could be adjudicated. In 2012 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was
unsuccessful in invoking the U.S. Constitutions 13th Amendment abolishing slavery and
involutnary servitude to gain freedom for orcas in captivity.
In 2013 the Nonhuman Rights Project initiated three legal claims on behalf of four chimpanzees
in New York State. Initially rejected, the cases are in the midst of appeals. "With our claims, we
are looking for imprisoned nonhuman animals to be returned to their natural environment, says
Steven Wise, president of the organization, which counts renowned British primatologist Jane
Goodall as a member. If thats not possible, we will try to send them to a suitable sanctuary.
The groundswell of support for freeing animals grows out of 40 years of primate research.
"Studies such as those by Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall and other scientists helped to position the
great apes as people, Gidice says. "Seeing them in zoos today recalls human exhibits from
other regions of the world in the Worlds Fairs in Paris in the 19th century.
Scientific research, he adds, has shown that they are sentient beings with reason, selfconsciousness and individuality. We cannot be accomplices and let them suffer in prison.