Gorilla Protection

Category: Press, Uncategorized, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Jul 30 2009 | By: Daniel

Word from YoG Ambassador Ian Redmond (OBE).

Should great apes have rights?   This was one of the questions addressed last Sunday (26th July) on BBC1’s The Big Questions, which the BBC describe as their ‘flagship ethical and religious debate programme’.  

I was invited to take part not because of my role as Ambassador for the UN Year of the Gorilla, but because I have spent hundreds of hours in the company of apes and have had the good fortune to regard some of them as friends (and an objective assessment of their behaviour suggests that the friendship was mutual).  

I guess for any pedantic taxonomists reading this, I should specify ‘non-human apes as friends as well as human ones…’   Great apes share so many characteristics with humans that they are now classed in the same zoological family as us – the Hominidae (find out more in my new book The Primate Family Tree/Primates of the World via www.4apes.com/shop).   But paradoxically, in law they have the same legal standing as a piece of furniture;  in most countries without wild ape populations, captive apes can be bought and sold legally, and any protection they do have in law is accorded mainly because they are endangered species or because they are animals and covered by anti-cruelty laws.   Unfortunately these laws tend to take a rather physical view of cruelty as beating or starving an animal, rather than causing it suffering in other ways – so in law there is nothing to stop the owner of any non-human primate pulling an infant off a mother and selling one or both of them, even though it self-evidently causes great distress to both.

The programme, which can be seen on-line at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lw5v7#synopsis, highlighted for me how strongly some people feel about this – whether for or against.  The divide between the two sides was not bridged, and I suspect few viewers changed their opinion as a result of listening to the arguments, despite the passion with which some were made.

Briefly, my personal position is that the concept of ‘rights’ is an important one in defining limits to human behaviour, whether you believe these rights are God-given or a human construct.    As such, I see no reason why the concept should not be extended to other species, especially those with a higher-order of intelligence who share many of the characteristics we consider to be important in humans.   It seems to me (and many others) quite wrong that a self-aware social mammal with cognitive abilities similar to a child has the same legal standing as a chair, i.e. a possession to be bought and sold.   To me, great apes deserve respect, and the granting of basic rights in law might change atavistic attitudes and help prevent the abuses that humans inflict on them.   To those who say human rights are not respected everywhere, I agree and wish it were otherwise; but it makes no sense to ignore one kind of abuse while striving to prevent another – we need action on both fronts. 

I should also stress, however, that these are my personal views based on 33 years of studying, interacting with and in some cases becoming friends with great apes;  these views are not those of the UN Great Ape Survival Partnership or the UN Year of the Gorilla campaign, which focus on ensuring the necessary steps are taken for great apes to survive in their natural habitat.  

To find out more about the philosophical arguments for ape rights, visit the Great Ape Project at http://www.greatapeproject.org/.     The rights GAP seeks for great apes are simply life, liberty and freedom from torture.  I’d also recommend reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights so as to better understand the difference between what we strive to give our own species and what those who have signed up to GAP seek to grant to non-human beings.

My wife made a very pertinent comment after the programme, observing that in any group of people the vast majority respond positively to a call for greater respect for and protection of great apes, whereas talk of rights immediately divides the room.   And as great apes need all the friends they can get at the moment, tactically it might be better in the short term to focus on educating people about apes to increase respect for their cognitive abilities and social skills.   Then in the not too distant future, the logic of granting them rights might not seem such a radical idea…

Cheers,
Ian

Tags: Great ape rights, Ian Redmond

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Category: Community, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Jul 25 2009 | By: tuver wundi

Hi,this is Tuver

With the help of the Gorilla Organization, local households in Goma are happy that Aide Kivu has now been able to meet their mounting requests for jiko stoves.

Boniface Bisimwa, Aide Kivu’s Technician, based in the Karisimbi area of Goma, learnt his trade in Kigali, Rwanda in 1986 and has specialised in this aspect of manufacturing ever since. He has recently been producing six stoves a day.

This increased production has been necessary to meet rising demand as local households increasingly recognize that by using the jiko stoves, they can save money and protect the national forest.

Interestingly, whilst to date, the local community has been used to the Kenya and Nguvu Nyeusi  stoves, people are now asking for the Kuni Mbili jiko stove more and more, as this uses both charcoal and wood. In my next blog post, I’ll describe the differences between the several types of stove that are made at the Aide Kivu workshop.

The high demand for jiko stoves continues…

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Category: Press, Successes, Threats, Videos, Western Lowland Gorilla, Year of the Gorilla, Your Donations, law enforcement | Date: Jul 20 2009 | By: Daniel

For the first time in Republic of Congo, a chimpanzee dealer was arrested and finally prosecuted. He was judged guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 1,100,000 CFA (1,679 Euro). This is the result of the Project PALF (Project to Apply the Fauna Law or Projet d’Appui à l’Application de la Loi Faunique), managed by The Aspinall Foundation and WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society). This project also benefits gorillas and you can donate for it!

Here you can watch PALF footage on Youtube.

Or you can watch the clips right here:

Tags: bushmeat, fundraising, law enforcement, poaching, Threats, Western Lowland Gorilla, Year of the Gorilla

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Category: Community, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Jul 11 2009 | By: tuver wundi

Hi, This is Tuver

Exciting news for the jiko stove project! Out of nearly a thousand nominations, the project has been selected as one of only twelve finalists in the ‘World Challenge 09’ competition. The contest, which will be broadcast on BBC World News and featured in Newsweek magazine, highlights projects that show enterprise and innovation at grass roots level.

The jiko stoves, already enjoyed by many households located around the Virunga National Park, provide greater economic stability for families, and reduce their use of charcoal. Due to ever-increasing demand for the stoves, the workshop producing them, situated in Goma on the Sake Road in Ndosho quarter, has recently increased their production.

Déocard Kalusi, Executive Secretary of Aide Kivu, explained that the Gorilla Organization has responded to the demand from local families by providing additional funds for materials to increase production. However, funds are still scarce, and he is concerned that the current rate of production of these stoves will still not be able to meet demand.

Your support is needed as much as ever, so that the Gorilla Organization is able to support Aide Kivu in this great project.

Please donate now!

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