About time!
This is a link to a blog-post I wrote regarding my experience with an 'actor' chimp;
http://nopracticalgrasp.blogspot.com/2014/11/prisoners-from-another-kingdom.html
The ruling, signed by the judges unanimously, would see Sandra freed from captivity and transferred to a nature sanctuary in Brazil after a court recognized the primate as a "non-human person" which has some basic human rights. The Buenos Aires zoo has 10 working days to seek an appeal.
The "habeas corpus" ruling in favor of the orangutan was requested last November by the Association of Professional Lawyers for Animal Rights (AFADA) alleging that Sandra suffered "unjustified confinement of an animal with proven cognitive ability."
Lawyers argued that just as a person, the ape is capable of maintaining emotional ties and has the ability to reason, while feeling frustrated with her confinement. Furthermore, the legal team claimed that the 29-year old orangutan can make decisions, has self-awareness and perception of time. And therefore, all things considered, Sandra's presence at the Zoo constituted illegal deprivation of liberty.
Habeas corpus is a fundamental legal term in human rights, dating back to the early fourteenth century during the reign of Edward I in England. At that time courts began requiring the monarchy to report the reasons behind restricted freedom of a subject.
Orangutan in Argentina zoo set to be granted freedom from
"unlawful imprisonment" http://t.co/8GsoplZInc pic.twitter.com/PvMhydqFP7
— Lyndsay Farlow (@LyndsayFarlow) December
22, 2014
"This opens the way not only for other Great Apes, but also
for other sentient beings which are unfairly and arbitrarily
deprived of their liberty in zoos, circuses, water parks and
scientific laboratories," the daily La Nacion newspaper
quoted AFADA lawyer Paul Buompadre as saying.
Sandra who was born in 1986 in the German zoo of Rostock, arrived in Buenos Aires in September 1994, where she’s spent 20 years behind bars. The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) claims Sumatran orangutan to be the most endangered of the orangutan species. Found only in the northern and western provinces of Sumatra, Indonesia, the species is fast losing its natural habitat to agriculture and human settlements.
Sandra's case is not the first in which "habeas corpus" was invoked to secure the release of wild animals in human captivity. However, in the US the two recent cases failed. A New York court, earlier this month has ruled that Tommy chimpanzee was not legally a person and is therefore not entitled to human rights. And in 2011, a lawsuit against SeaWorld to free five wild-captured orca whales was dismissed by the San Diego court.
READ MORE: Apeus corpus? Chimps not human, says New York court
via/ http://rt.com/news/216551-orangutan-argentina-human-right/
Deserved; absolutely, and provably. But- there is also the current reality that "releasing" these brethren is now highly likely to result in their quick death. It's horrifyingly dangerous for them back in their original worlds now. Palm oil? One of the greatest obscenities on the planet, from ALL aspects; child slavery, species extinction, unjust enrichment, and 30 more.
ReplyDeleteI DO know people in the primate business whose wards would probably choose to stay with them. The work they do is "good"; often rescuing orphans from hideous situations. "Just turn them loose!" has proven to be a very bad idea for the animals; like the numerous raids to "liberate" mink and foxes from fur farms. Verified repeatedly; those animals have no ability to live in the wild; most are dead within days. An ugly business, but an ugly "answer", too.
Hm. You've started me thinking.
You're aware, of course, that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison now owns the island of Lanai? And is desperately trying to figure out what to do with it. It would need a lot of careful tree/forest planting; but- what if endangered primates could be put there; to live and reproduce on their own, where bush meat is not an option? They are all in deadly danger, as species. Tricky. Probably need fences to keep some apart; chimps would likely murder bonobos. But...
Know anybody with an in to Larry?
From what I can tell, Ellison has plans to develop 'green agro' on the island and will match the buying price (5 or 600 million) with equivalent development monies. It would be wonderful to use it as a great ape reserve, but I think he already has plans.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Sandra will not be released to the wild, rather she will be living a freer (but supported) existence in a nature reserve. I agree that this is far from ideal, but worlds better than a prison cell.
:*(
I'm aware of his plans for "green agro"- but... they seem exceptionally vague, and the product of "professional advisors" - who know nothing about Hawaii, climate, soil, or people. I lived there a couple times, and had friends who went to live on Lanai in the summer, working for Dole; so I know a little. My firm expectation; in 10 years, having lost millions, he'll rethink. :-) Meanwhile, Koko is on Maui these days...
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