Ape rights movement questions barrier between man and animal

By Sinikka Tarvainen Apr 29, 2006, 9:01 GMT

Madrid - In earlier times, man was seen as a special creature - the image of God and the lord of creation.

Yet with the Spanish parliament preparing to debate the rights of great apes as 'persons,' the traditional view of man and animal could be about to definitively change.

'I am an ape,' says Pedro Pozas, secretary-general in Spain of the international Great Ape Project, which wants the United Nations to grant gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutangs and bonobos something comparable to human rights.

Humans and great apes are part of the same hominid family, champions of ape rights say, stressing that the behaviour of apes resembles that of humans more than had previously been recognized.

Spain's governing Socialist Party is promoting an initiative to recognize great apes as different from other animals, to protect their habitat and to prohibit their use in circuses.

The measures would also ban scientific experiments with great apes, something that has already been practically abolished in Europe.

Spain would thus become the first European country to adopt measures such as those proposed by the decade-old Great Ape Project, which seeks three basic rights for apes: the rights to life, to liberty and to not being tortured.

'The only other country to have adopted comparable measures is New Zealand,' Pozas told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in a telephone interview.

Currently, Spanish zoos and circuses often keep apes in small cages. They may be castrated, have their teeth removed or vocal cords cut to control them.

Environment Minister Cristina Narbona believes promoting the rights of apes would increase the general consciousness of animal rights in a country known for its bullfights and bloodsports.

The Socialist initiative is, however, facing opposition from critics ranging from the Catholic Church to human rights activists.

'Too much progress becomes ridiculous,' archbishop Fernando Sebastian said, criticizing moves to promote the rights of apes when abortions violated the human rights of embryos.

Amnesty International representative Delia Padron stressed that not even the rights of all human beings were being respected.

The police trade union ASIGC called the initiative 'silly,' asking ironically for 'ape rights' for its members who were attempting to improve their labour conditions.

Champions of ape rights counter that awareness of animals as suffering beings increases awareness of human rights.

Orangutangs, gorillas and chimpanzees share between 96 and 99 per cent of their genetic material with humans.

'Great apes have self-control, a sense of the past and of the future, a capacity to mourn' and to use tools, explained Francisco Garrido, the MP who launched the ape rights initiative in parliament.

'Not only can chimpanzees learn up to 500 words and communicate through a computer, but they also use up to 50 medicinal plants for diarrhoea, vomiting or parasites,' primate expert Jordi Savater Pi said.

'When a chimpanzee takes your hand to tell you something, you feel that you are dealing with a special creature,' Pozas says.

He concedes that apes are not like humans, but describes them as 'kinds of persons.'

Western man's traditional view of himself as a unique creature has already been modified by evolutionist theories, Pozas observes.

'We need to break the barrier between the species,' he says, adding that such a change would help man preserve the environment instead of destroying it.

Pozas expects the Spanish parliament to approve the ape rights initiative, which has received backing from academics in some 70 universities around the world.

He stresses it is not sufficient to recognize rights for great apes, whose survival is threatened by deforestation, hunting, trafficking and disease.

'We need to help developing countries protect the forests where apes live,' Pozas says.