Appeals Court to Hear Chimpanzee Lawsuit
Tommy the chimpanzee is headed back to court. He won’t be there in person, but the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) is appealing a December ruling of…
Ebola, Chimpanzees and Fear of the ‘Other’
What does this August 29th Newsweek cover say to you, with its rather menacing-looking chimpanzee and a caption suggesting that these animals and the people from…
Nonhuman Rights Project on ‘Colbert Report’
Legal rights for animals?? Expect Stephen Colbert to be suitably shocked, horrified and appalled when, in character as the classic right-wing bloviator, he welcomes Steven…
Chimpanzee Personalities Almost Identical to Humans
A new study of captive chimpanzees concludes that the personality traits of chimpanzees are almost identical to those of humans. I asked psychologist Sam Gosling of…
Chatting with Charles Siebert
Charles Siebert’s New York Times story about the Nonhuman Rights Project has stirred lots of interest around the country in last few days. Among other scoops,…
Unlocking the Cage
For the last two years, Academy Award-winning movie maker D.A. Pennebaker and Oscar nominee Chris Hegedus have been following the work of Steven M. Wise and…
Q & A with Steven M. Wise
Steven M. Wise, President of the Nonhuman Rights Project President, answers some of the questions we’ve been receiving in the wake of the cover story in the New York Times magazine.
First: “Why can’t a humane society or local authorities just go in and rescue those poor chimpanzees?”
Our First Plaintiff
Our plaintiff did not walk into our office; he couldn’t. When we last saw him, he was being held captive in solitary confinement in a small, dank, cement cage in a dark shed in temperatures 40 degrees below his native land.
New York Times Mag on Chimp Rights
Renowned author and journalist Charles Siebert writes about the Nonhuman Rights Project for this week’s cover story in the New York Times Magazine. Siebert accompanies attorney…
Updates on Legal Rights for Nonhuman Animals
Since the Nonhuman Rights Project filed its first series of lawsuits in December, there have been several other initiatives to secure legal rights for nonhuman animals.…
The New Conversation about Persons
When the Nonhuman Rights Project filed its first three lawsuits earlier this month, inviting judges in New York State to recognize four captive chimpanzees as “legal…
Chimpanzee Personhood: What the Media Said
As soon as we started filing our first three lawsuits last week, we were deluged with media interest from around the world. Here are just a…
Chimpanzee Personhood: What the Judges Said
It’s a little unusual for a judge to wish you good luck as you head off to appeal his decision. But that’s exactly what happened when…
First-Ever Lawsuit Filed for Chimpanzee Seeking Legal Personhood
This morning, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) filed suit in Fulton County Court in the state of New York on behalf of Tommy, a chimpanzee, who…
Leaving Las Vegas
Last December, Terry the chimpanzee celebrated his 34th birthday. He got some apples and other treats, and a few visitors wandered by, but it wasn’t much of…
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Jersey, a chimpanzee at Save the Chimps, is busy checking herself out in a mirror – not very different from what you or I do when…
Why ‘Experts’ Get So Confused about Legal Rights for Nonhumans
Is their confusion perhaps deliberate? An article in The Week asks: “Should Apes Have Legal Rights?” As the Nonhuman Rights Project prepares to file its first…
Farewell to Tea Party Chimpanzee
As a youngster, he drank tea on TV and dressed up as James Bond. When he grew up, he spent the rest of his life at a…
Chimpanzee Decisions a ‘Very, Very Important Milestone’
The decision by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to phase out medical research on chimpanzees and to send all but 50 of the 360 who…
Travis, Tragedy and the Other Chimpanzees
Travis and Charla when he was a youngster In February, 2009, 14-year-old chimpanzee Travis attacked Charla Nash, a friend of the woman who “owned” him. He…