A New York judge has ordered Stony Brook University to justify custody of Hercules and Leo, two chimpanzees.
The NonHuman Rights Project has filed suit on behalf of the two chimpanzees, stating that the animals are “autonomous and self-determining beings who possess those complex cognitive abilities sufficient for common law personhood and the common law right to bodily liberty”.
In an interesting development, the Judge granted a Writ of Habeas Corpus, historically only able to be granted to a person, suggesting that the Chimpanzees possessed personhood. Following widespread media hysteria, the Judge amended the order to remove reference to the Writ.
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Written by Andrew Graham