Deep in a lush rainforest, with the morning sun falling on her curious face and creating a faint glow around her abundant, coppery hair, a young orangutan follows her mother through the treetops. Slowly, this self-aware, intelligent being is testing her strength and finding her courage. In this world–unlike our present world–she hasn’t had to learn to fear and evade humans, to flee from their chainsaws and traps as her ancestors did before her. She hasn’t had to learn to cope with being torn from her mother to live in a cage, on display, or as someone’s pet. She hasn’t had to learn to adapt to the endless destruction of her forest home or, every day of her life, figure out how to survive human violence and human entitlement.
She never will, because in this world, great apes have legal rights, and humans have come together to fundamentally change the way we share the planet with nonhuman animals. In this world, her strength and courage are put to use for only one thing–being an orangutan, with all the richness this implies for her, her family, and the habitat of which she is a key part.
At the Nonhuman Rights Project, we use the terms “nonhuman rights” and “nonhuman animals” to remind people that humans are also animals—the only animals with legally recognized and enforceable rights. Nonhuman animals are not so different from us, yet we treat them as “other,” less than, things. These experiences scar them for life. Only the law can stop it, yet the law continues to deny them rights, which is irrational and unjust. Simply put, we’re not above other animals, and we’re not the only animals who need and are entitled to rights.
Donate today to help nonhuman animals live the lives they were meant to.
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Thank you as always, John!
Lauren Choplin
Communications Director, the NhRP
