Editing Great ape personhood (section)

==Advocacy==
Well-known advocates include primatologist [[Jane Goodall]], who was appointed a goodwill ambassador for the [[United Nations]] to fight the [[bushmeat]] trade and end [[ape]] extinction; [[Richard Dawkins]], former Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at [[Oxford University]]; [[Peter Singer]], professor of philosophy at [[Princeton University]]; and attorney and former Harvard professor [[Steven Wise]], founder and president of the [[Nonhuman Rights Project]] (NhRP), whose aim is to use U.S. common law on a state-by-state basis to achieve recognition of legal personhood for great apes and other self-aware, autonomous non-human animals.<ref name=GAPGoodall/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nonhumanrights.org |title=Nonhuman Rights Project}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|sure=y|reason=Questionable source, not reliable.|date=October 2022}}

In December 2013, the NhRP filed three lawsuits on behalf of four chimpanzees being held in captivity in New York State, arguing that they should be recognized as legal persons with the fundamental right to bodily liberty (i.e. not to be held in captivity) and that they are entitled to common law writs of [[habeas corpus]] and should be immediately freed and moved to sanctuaries.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/magazine/the-rights-of-man-and-beast.html?_r=0 |title=Should a Chimp Be Able to Sue Its Owner? |author=Charles Siebert |date=23 April 2014 |magazine=New York Times Magazine}}</ref> All three petitions for writs of habeas corpus were denied, allowing for the right to appeal. The NhRP is{{When|date=October 2024}} appealing all three decisions.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Appeals-panel-to-weigh-personhood-for-chimpanzee-5797943.php |title=Appeals panel to weigh personhood for chimpanzee |author=Robert Gavin |date=3 October 2014 |newspaper=Times Union}}</ref>

Goodall's [[Longitudinal study|longitudinal studies]] revealed the social and family life of chimps to be similar to those of human beings. Goodall describes them as individuals, and claims they relate to her as an individual member of the clan. Laboratory studies of [[Great ape language|ape language ability]] revealed other human traits, as did [[genetics]], and eventually three of the great apes were reclassified as [[hominidae|hominids]].

Other studies, such as one done by Beran and Evans,<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Beran MJ|author2= Evans TA |title=Maintenance of delay of gratification by four chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): the effects of delayed reward visibility, experimenter presence, and extended delay intervals |journal=Behavioural Processes |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=315–24 |year=2006 |pmid=16978800 |doi=10.1016/j.beproc.2006.07.005 |s2cid= 33431269 }}</ref> indicate other qualities that humans share with non-human primates, namely the ability to self-control. In order for chimpanzees to control their impulsivity, they use self-distraction techniques similar to those that are used by children. Great apes also exhibited ability to plan as well as project "oneself into the future", known as [[Chronesthesia|"mental time travel"]]. Such complicated tasks require self-awareness, which great apes appear to possess: "the capacity that contribute to the ability to [[delayed gratification|delay gratification]], since a self-aware individual may be able to imagine future states of the self".<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Animal Cognition: Time Flies When Chimps Are Having Fun.|last1 =Heilbronner |first1=S. |last2=Platt|first2=M. L. |date = 4 December 2007|journal = Current Biology|volume = 17|issue = 23|pages = R1008–R1010|doi = 10.1016/j.cub.2007.10.012|pmid = 18054760|s2cid = 296013|doi-access = free|bibcode =2007CBio...17R1008H }}</ref>

The recognition of great ape intelligence, alongside the increasing risk of great ape extinction, has led the [[animal rights]] movement to put pressure on nations to recognize apes as having limited [[rights]] and being legal "persons." In response, the [[United Kingdom]] introduced a ban on research using great apes, although testing on other primates has not been limited.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/businessofresearch/story/0,,1663535,00.html |title=RSPCA outrage as experiments on animals rise to 2.85m |access-date=2008-06-26 |author=Alok Jha |date=2005-12-05 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

Writer and lecturer Thomas Rose argues that granting legal rights to non-humans is not a new concept. He points out that in most of the world, "corporations are recognized as legal persons and are granted many of the same rights humans enjoy, the right to sue, to vote, and to freedom of speech."<ref name="Rose" /> [[Dawn Prince-Hughes]] has written that great apes meet the commonly accepted standards for personhood: "self-awareness; comprehension of past, present, and future; the ability to understand complex rules and their consequences on emotional levels; the ability to choose to risk those consequences, a capacity for [[empathy]], and the ability to [[Abstraction|think abstractly]]."<ref name="Prince-Hughes138">{{cite book|title= Songs of the Gorilla Nation|last= Prince-Hughes|first= Dawn|author-link= Dawn Prince-Hughes|year= 1987|publisher= Harmony|isbn= 1-4000-5058-8|page= [https://archive.org/details/songsofgorillana00prinrich/page/138 138]|url= https://archive.org/details/songsofgorillana00prinrich/page/138|url-access= registration}}</ref>

[[Gary Francione]] questions the concept of granting personhood on the basis of whether the animal is human-like (as some have argued) and believes [[sentience]] should be the sole criteria used to determine if an animal should enjoy basic rights. He asserts that several other animals, including mice and rats, should also be granted such rights.<ref name="Gary 2006">{{Cite web| last=Francione | first=Gary | title=The Great Ape Project: Not so Great | year=2006 | url=http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/the-great-ape-project-not-so-great/ | access-date=2010-03-22 }}</ref>