- Dr. Jane Goodall
Hi guys!
You may have noticed that I haven't written a post in a really long time! So sorry about that, and all I can say is that I've recently started some new jobs (including one with The Converging World - a really great sustainability charity - which I'll talk more about in a later post), and I've been absolutely swamped.
BUT, a good friend of mine - Mr Joe Bell - has been on at me to write a new post, and I promised I would today, so here it is! Today's post is about The Great Ape Project.
In 1963, the German performance artist, Bazon Brock, wanted to be included into the primate collection of the Frankfurt Zoo. His request was denied, but some forty years later, in 2005, the London Zoo displayed volunteer specimens of Homo sapiens, in an outdoor enclosure. The aim was to illustrate the place of humans in nature and our relationship with other species.
Our existence is made richer as descendants of the Great Apes; not only are our ancestors apes, but we still are apes! We are zoologically classified as primates in a taxonomical family that includes both Great Apes and humans. The closest relation to chimpanzees and bonobos, are not other Great Apes, but human beings. We should not only acknowledge these biological facts, but act upon them.
The Great Ape Project is an international movement, initiated by philosophers Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri, in 1993. It aims to defend the rights of non-human great apes, so that's;
Chimpanzees...
...Gorillas...
...Bonobos...
...and Orangutans.
The idea behind the Great Ape Project, is that these animals exhibit many characteristics which many people believe to be unique to human beings, such as social organization, communication and strong affectionate bonds among individuals; characteristics which are the basis on which we have developed numerous Human Rights. The possession of these characteristics by Great Apes demonstrates their intelligence, and many people think that they should therefore possess some of the same rights as humans. Obviously, to give Great Apes the right to vote or enforcing data protection rules etc. would be ridiculous, but the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture, are rights that in my opinion, should be extended to all forms of sentient life on Earth.
In 2000, a three month old orphan chimpanzee was adopted and raised as a human by a microbiologist living in Sao Paulo state, Brazil. This aroused interest for rescue and close treatment of chimp victims of mistreatment in Brazil, and started a number of GAP activities in the area. In 2008, GAP had four sanctuaries in Brazil which were affiliated with GAP's ideas.
In terms of the proposed extension of these rights to Great Apes, the details are:
1. The Right to Life - The lives of all great primates must be protected. The individuals can not be killed, with exception for extremely specific situations, such as self-defense.
2. The Protection of Individual Liberty - Great primates can not be deprived, in an arbitrary way, from their freedom. They have the right to live in their habitat. Great primates who live in captivity have the right to live with dignity, in large rooms, to have contact with others of their species to form families and must be protected from commercial exploitation.
3. The Prohibition of Torture - Intentional imposition of intense pain, physically and psychologically, to a great primate, with no reason or to other's benefits, is considered a kind of torture and is an offense from which they must be protected.
The interests of humans who are unable to speak for themselves (such as infants, or the elderly afflicted by conditions such as Alzheimer's) are represented by guardians. Therefore, guardians show also be able to safeguard the legal rights of Great Apes, and legislation along these lines has been drafted already in New Zealand and Spain. The Giordano Bruno Foundation supports the efforts of the Great Ape Project on the basis that as human beings, we are not the 'summit of creation', but organisms brought about by evolutionary processes...
We, along with all other creatures on this planet, are simply 'life that wants to live, in the midst of life that wants to live' (Albersrt Schweitzer). The Great Ape Project works with the ethos that this premise should be reflected in a more responsible approach to the lives of non-human animals...and I for one whole heartedly agree.
If you'd like to read a bit more about GAP's projects, mission and history, go to http://www.greatapeproject.org/. Here you can read about the project, and also support the project, by signing the World Declaration, found by going to the GAP Project section and clicking on World Declaration.
Hopefully it won't be so long before I write a new post this time!
Ellie x
