Do Chimpanzees Have Rights?

I strongly agree that nonhuman primates should be granted the same sort of rights granted to humans. Chimpanzees, for instance, share 99% of our genome. 6 million years ago humans and chimpanzees diverged from a common ancestor. Yet recent studies into chimpanzee life has demonstrated that chimps and humans are not so different.

The phylogenetic and genetic similarity between humans and other primates is remarkable. Only a handful of brain-based genes have been recently discovered that separate humans from chimpanzees, including foxP2, har1f, and ASPM. These genes influence brain development and cranial capacity, allowing humans to have a larger brain with stronger neuronal connections. Some more physical similarities include brain size to body size ratio which is the highest among primates (including humans), the large size of the neofrontal cortex (humans have the largest, chimps the second largest), and the presence of Von Economo neurons in great apes and humans. Besides anatomical similarities, striking similarities in brain evolution and culture are worth mentioning. Brain evolution in humans involved tool use, language abilities, knowledge of the environment, and the development of social intelligence (theory of mind, deception, etc.). Tool use ability has been documented in chimpanzees that use sticks to fish for insects or crack open nuts. Cultural transmission has been documented in Japanese macaques that teach their neighbors how to wash potatoes. Zoopharmacognosy, or the use of plants for medicinal purposes, has been shown in chimpanzees that chew on a certain plant to kill intestinal worms. There are even chimpanzees that are capable of painting. All of these aspects of brain evolution occurred in humans. Clearly, humans and other primates have many phylogenetic features in common, but a major advance in our understanding of primates comes from the demonstration of consciousness.

Social intelligence is an important similarity shared by humans and other primates. In a series of experiments designed to test consciousness, human toddlers responded to facial cues from an experimenter by retrieving a fallen object. This reading of facial expressions was also present in primates who performed the same task as the toddler. Other experiments demonstrated cooperation among monkeys who learned that they had to work together to pull an apparatus that provided them with food. Moreover, deception was uncovered in experiments where a monkey took food from the experimenter only when he wasn't looking. Finally, cooperation experiments among monkeys showed that a monkey trained to perform a task such as pulling in a rope to get a food reward deliberately chose a companion who was also trained rather than one who never performed the task. These experiments all point to social intelligence. Primates can read facial cues, understand when cooperation is necessary to complete tasks, and engage in deception. Though these experiments do not close the book on primate consciousness, the possibility of consciousness in primates is irrefutable.

Given these extensive physical and mental similarities between humans and other primates, it would seem strange not to grant rights to beings who are so similar to us. We have much to learn about ourselves from chimpanzees, we can at least return the favor by giving them rights.