Jane Goodall States that Global Economic Crisis Affecting Chimpanzees and Other Non-Human Primates

So, all primates – human and non-human affected.

Article:

Monkey business hard to sustain in slump, Goodall says

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5570UX20090608

SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Chimpanzees, long under threat from humans encroaching on their habitat, are now facing another risk caused by that same member of the Great Ape family: the global economic crisis, says primatologist Jane Goodall.

Funding to the Jane Goodall Institute, a nonprofit organization that aims to conserve primate habitats and increase awareness of animal welfare activities, has declined by about 10 percent since the financial crisis hit.

"Money that came in last year was less than we had expected," Goodall told Reuters in Singapore while visiting for events related to World Environment Day. "The private donors and some of the foundations pulled back."

The institute, which has an annual budget of $10-11 million which funds its activities in Africa, has had to dig into its endowment fund to keep some of its programs running. Some projects were cut and staff laid off.

Goodall, who rose to fame in the 1960s through her ground-breaking study of chimpanzees in East Africa, said the root cause of most problems was overpopulation and the materialism of most human societies.

"Underlying everything is the sheer number of people on the planet," said 75-year-old Goodall. "We take far, far, far, far more than our fair share of these precious natural resources."

"We have to help people understand that enough is enough. We have so much more than we need, we have a throwaway society."

Such strident demands on the environment have seen previously forested areas being taken over by humans for housing, agriculture and business, leading to a dwindling population of chimpanzees and other animals in the wild.

Goodall estimates there are currently there are about 300,000 chimpanzees spread across 21 nations in Africa, down from the 1-2 million in 1960.

The animal rights activist, who fulfilled her childhood dream to live in the wild and write books, spends 300 days a year on the road using her personal story and fame to inspire youth to become more environmentally responsible.

"Root & Shoots," a youth organization she started with 12 high-school students in Tanzania in 1991, now involves people from pre-schoolers to university students and prisoners across 111 countries. It aims to raise awareness about the planet.

"People understand a lot more, but it doesn't mean they always change their behavior though," Goodall said. "The last hurdle is to get people not only to understand, but take action. The bigger problem is that again, again and again that people honestly cannot believe that what they do makes a difference."

Chimpanzee Center of Court Case to Determine Legal Rights of Non-Human Primates

This case is extremely monumental. The decision here will affect many related issue. At concern is the question of intelligence equaling rights.

There is no debate here that Hiasl, a 26-year-old chimpanzee is extremely intelligent.

It’s just amazing to me that anyone would be callous enough to justify moving him from a sanctuary to a vivisection torture laboratory.

His story is typical: stolen from the jungle and destined for torture. Luckily his story was slightly different in that he was seized and moved to a sanctuary. Baxter, in it’s infinite cruel look at the work will not look to gain control of his destiny.

Some interesting points:

“Chimpanzee's DNA is 96 percent to 98.4 percent similar to that of humans -- closer than the relationship between donkeys and horses.”

“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.”


Article:

Austrian court to rule if chimpanzee has human rights

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2007/04/02/2003354887

THE OBSERVER, BERLIN
Monday, Apr 02, 2007, Page 1

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 chimpanzeein 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.S

eeking 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.I

f 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.