He recognizes himself in the mirror, plays hide-and-seek and breaks into fits of giggles when tickled. He is also our closest evolutionary cousin. A group of international leading primatologists argues that this is proof enough that Hiasl, a 26-year-old chimpanzee in Austria, deserves to be treated like a human.
In a test case, campaigners were seeking to ditch the "species barrier" and took Hiasl's case to court. If Hiasl is granted human status -- and the rights that go with it -- it will signal a victory for other primate species and unleash a wave of similar cases.
Hiasl's story began in 1982 when, as a baby, he was taken from Sierra Leone and smuggled into Austria in a crate with seven other chimps destined for a vivisection laboratory east of Vienna. But customs officers seized the crate and Hiasl was sent to an animal sanctuary.
Now the sanctuary faces bankruptcy and Hiasl could be sent to the Baxter vivisection laboratory after all.
Seeking to save Hiasl, who likes painting, kissing visitors and watching wildlife programs, an Austrian businessman has donated ?3,400 (US6,700) toward his upkeep.
However, unless Hiasl has a legal guardian who can manage the money, it will go to the receivers. As only humans have a right to legal guardians, his campaigners said it was necessary for Hiasl's survival to prove that he is one of us.
Primatologists and experts -- from the world's most famous primate campaigner, Jane Goodall, to Volker Sommer, a renowned wild chimp expert at University College London -- will give evidence in the case, which is due to come to court in Vienna within the next few months.
One of their central arguments will be that a chimpanzee's DNA is 96 percent to 98.4 percent similar to that of humans -- closer than the relationship between donkeys and horses. They will cite recent findings that apes hunt with home-made spears and can fight battles and make peace.
In New Zealand, apes -- gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos -- were granted special rights as "non-human hominids" in 1999 to ensure protection from maltreatment, slavery, torture, death and extinction.
"It's untenable to talk of dividing humans and humanoid apes because there are no clear-cut criteria -- neither biological, nor mental, nor social," said Sommer, an evolutionary anthropologist.
Paula Stibbe, a British woman, has applied to be named Hiasl's legal guardian.
"He is a colorful character with lots of energy. The least we can do for him is give him ... a future in society," Stibbe said.
Barbara Bartl, the judge and an animal rights campaigner, has stalled proceedings until documents are provided proving Hiasl has, as his friends say, the status of an asylum-seeker, having been abducted illegally from Sierra Leone.
If Hiasl is granted human status, Martin Balluch, of the Association against Animal Factories, who has worked to bring the case, wants the chimp to sue the vivisection laboratory.
"We argue that he's a person and he's capable of owning something himself, as opposed to being owned and that he can manage his money. This means he can start a court case against Baxter, which at the very least should mean his old age pension is secure," Balluch said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from