In a world increasingly dominated by humans and their needs, no chimpanzee is safe. The efforts made so far to enhance species survival in the wild and individual well-being in captivity have not offset growing human pressures on chimpanzees.

Frustrated by possible failure of mainstream wildlife conservation and animal protection measures to give chimpanzees a better survival advantage, some are suggesting that more might be gained by formulating a "Chimpanzee Bill of Rights" which would grant the species some legal standing in human society.
My concern is that an initiative centering on legal issues may raise further barriers in a political climate still too conservative to endorse such radical legislation.

Seeking a less provocative approach that appeals to the human conscience rather than to our legal system, I prefer to focus on a "Code of Human Conduct" whereby chimpanzees achieve a more egalitarian coexistence as members in a global community of sentient beings. The main challenges arise not so much with finding topics to address as with finding words and phrases to convey how chimpanzees are like humans - but are not humans.
Free and captive chimpanzees face different problems in the two settings they occupy. A new code of human conduct must apply to both situations. The first task, then, is to define these two areas of concern.

Problem I

The chimpanzees living in ever smaller numbers in the range countries of equatorial Africa are being depleted by the dual pressures of habitat destruction and human persecution, with some regional units already extinct and others heading that way at varying rates, and the conservation measures enacted to date are not assuring the survival of free chimpanzees.

Problem II

The chimpanzees removed in large numbers from range countries in equatorial Africa, with a high mortality rate caused by destructive capture methods, now reside in captive conditions that are mostly unsuited to their needs, with low reproductive rates linked to poor maintenance conditions and management practices, and the care standards adopted to date are not ensuring the well-being of captive chimpanzees.

If we retain our present egocentric attitudes about nature, exploiting and destroying chimpanzees for purely human gain, our best efforts to save a kindred species may fail. And chimpanzees are not, of course, the only ones standing on a precipice. Fundamental changes of attitude are essential, in my view, to making solid progress on the other, more pragmatic fronts of wildlife conservation and animal protection where we must win the fight to stem population decline in the wild and to stop individual abuse in captivity. A new code of human conduct may pave the way for these changes.
My proposals for a code of human conduct are outlined below in a set of basic objectives followed by specific propositions. Both reflect my priorities in forging attitude changes about our relationship with chimpanzees. Others are invited to add or amplify on these points.

Objective A

Objective A is: global recognition of the Endangered Species status of chimpanzees, free and captive, backed by international consensus that a) the wild populations remains threatened by extinction in all range countries so long as the factors responsible for present rates of decline continue to overwhelm conservation measures aimed at enhancing species survival, and that b) the captive populations can be classed as self-sustaining only when it contains a majority of third generation captive-born members in all user countries.

Proposition 1

Unilateral protection of free chimpanzees is urgently needed in a spectrum of habitat zones that preserve both biological and cultural diversity in the wild population, where all types of land development, including selective natural resource extraction, and all forms of direct persecution, such as hunting for bush-meat markets and taking for commercial trade, are, in principle, prohibited entirely or, in practice, restricted within regions crucial to species survival. Whenever habitat competition becomes contentious in range countries, mutual coexistence of humans and chimpanzees should be emphasized.

Proposition 2

A total ban should be invoked on international trade of free-born chimpanzees, with no exceptions granted for supplementing the captive population with free-born chimpanzees: a moratorium is recommended on international trade of captive-born chimps for purposes other than publicly verifiable propagation to enhance species survival, or at least until the captive population achieves self-sustaining status.

Proposition 3

Substantial fines and sentences, in excess of current penalties and far exceeding the profits to be gained by those perpetrating infractions, must be set to enforce legal restraints on damaging the wild population and on trafficking in live individuals, as penalties now on the books offer only small deterrence to dealers and buyers.

Objective B

Cooperative international support of a global network of outdoor sanctuaries that can provide refuge for all orphaned and unwanted chimpanzees, whatever their origin, and particularly for those confiscated during enforcement of laws that prohibit taking and trading of free-born individuals.

Proposition 4

Range countries in Africa should share the responsibility of supporting free-born chimpanzees after they enter captivity but generally lack both the resources and the expertise needed to cope with maintenance of those chimpanzees, so construction and operation of local sanctuaries should be an international responsibility shared by wildlife conservation, animal protection and zoological organizations as well as government agencies.

Proposition 5

To preclude killing of unwanted chimpanzees in user countries, for any reason whatsoever, each country holding captive individuals should institute a national retirement policy backed by specific plans and budgets to support them for their natural life-spans.

Proposition 6

Countries serving as transit points for shipment of chimpanzees should prohibit passage of all individuals destined for countries which do not operate registered sanctuary programs. To encourage all nations to create sanctuaries, international treaties governing trade in endangered species should be amended to prohibit member states from receiving any wildlife shipments until such time as sanctuary programs are established.

Objective C

Universal acknowledgement that chimpanzees share with humans an array of behavioral, social, communicational, emotional, mental and biological traits, including the capacities to suffer physical pain and psychological trauma as well as numerous positive experiences, which together demonstrate a close kinship that confers upon each a natural right to coexist on one planet.

Proposition 7

For moral and ethical reasons in addition to many practical advantages in maintaining eco-system diversity, humans are obliged to respect the sovereignty of chimpanzees as a species and the dignity of chimpanzees as individuals, and are further obligated to act in ways that neither endanger the survival of free chimpanzees nor deprive the well-being of captive chimpanzees.

Proposition 8

While chimpanzees may continue to serve as involuntary sources of knowledge for humans in ways that lead to exploitation of wild populations and abuse of captive individuals, actions often justified on the basis of alleged human gain, the sharing of so many definitive traits entitles chimpanzees to inherent freedoms and intrinsic benefits akin to those humans prize for themselves.

Proposition 9

Chimpanzees, showing demonstrated qualities and abilities overlapping with humans, merit legal protection beyond what is now granted by wildlife conservation laws and animal protection regulations, and humans, having seized control over chimpanzee survival options and well-being standards, hold responsibility to provide legal redress for chimpanzees whose welfare may be violated in ways warranting court intervention.

Proposition 10

All forms of neglect, deprivation and abuse, whether physical or psychological, practiced by trainers, experimenters, exhibitors or even temporary wards of captive chimpanzees should be punishable in courts under statues based on values akin to the ones applied to protect human freedom and rights.

Objective D

Worldwide recognition of an obligation to exclude chimpanzees from all types of human exploitation and utilization which do not directly benefit the chimpanzees themselves, on the dual bases that a) such uses cannot be reconciled with an international ranking as Endangered Species and b) such uses are incompatible with current ethical constraints on placing humans in situations causing physical and/or psychological suffering.

Proposition 11

Chimpanzees should not be utilized for entertainment purposes of any kind, whether profitable or charitable, and strict sanctions are needed to prohibit not only the training of chimpanzees by persons connected with such industries but also the buying and selling, or breeding, of chimpanzees for such frivolous purposes.

Proposition 12

Standards of maintenance and care in all biomedical institutions, where the majority of captive chimpanzees are now confined must, in keeping with their stated aim of producing a physically and psychologically healthy self-sustaining population, be substantially raised by legal mandate to provide all individuals with optimum living conditions. These are, at minimum, cage size above 400 square feet of floor space and 7 feet height, social housing at all times, trained care-givers to provide daily enrichment activities and materials, and independently funded retirement programs. Any institution failing to comply with these standards should be prohibited from breeding or otherwise acquiring more chimpanzees.

Proposition 14

Chimpanzees should never be forced to involuntarily enter conditions or situations which humans themselves would not willingly enter under exactly the same terms, and the baseline measure for relating to any chimpanzee in captivity must be voluntary participation by that chimpanzee.

Objective E

Commensurate with recognizing the species sovereignty and the individual dignity of chimpanzees, there should be no rights of personal or institutional ownership whereby captive individuals can be subjected to treatment as mere property under assorted human laws.

Proposition 15

Personal ownership, most particularly where commercial gain is a motive, cannot be reconciled with philosophical ranking of chimpanzees as an Endangered Species, so private citizens should be prohibited from buying, transporting, keeping and selling, or otherwise gaining autonomous control over, the life and welfare of free-born or captive-born chimpanzees.

Proposition 16

Institutional ownership, even by those dedicated to human education and health, should be prohibited unless a) they empower groups of humans, not single persons, to render collective decisions on all issues affecting the lives and welfare of captive chimpanzees, b) they offer verifiable proof of keeping chimpanzees for the sole purpose of species propagation aimed at countering extinction in range countries, and c) they comply with the optimum maintenance and care needs of every chimpanzee held there.

Proposition 17

Legal sanctions backed by stiff penalties are needed to bar killing of captive chimpanzees living in any institution, regardless of age or reproductive status, for any reason other than humane euthanasia in publicly evaluated cases that involve pain or suffering beyond known remedies.

Proposition 18

No chimpanzee, free or captive, should ever be the victim of an exchange for monetary or other profit by any person or institution, as the selling of a chimpanzee invariably invokes treatment as property, and thereby demeans individual dignity.
Chimpanzees are, by all measures known to humans, sentient and sensitive beings whose qualities and abilities match ours' more closely than those of any other living species. I do not consider chimpanzees to be humans, nor do I view humans as chimpanzees, but I do think that each merits equal consideration in the grand scenario of life on this planet. So I hope that some day in the foreseeable future the proposals outlined above will be widely adopted as the guideline for governing human relations with chimpanzees.

 
 
Meet Arun Rangsi, one of IPPL's Sanctuary Gibbons

IPPL Alert Page
IPPL News
IPPL News Archive

IPPL Home Page