Save the Silverback

Surfing the net has made me aware of the appalling cruelty to apes and especially the mindless slaughter of gorillas.

I could never understand the point of killing an animal and calling it sport.
That is unless you hunt down a gorilla with your bare hands and pin him down. I have visions of Crocodile Dundee wrestling with crocs as the perfect image of SPORT.

From the Animal Liberation movement there has emerged a worthy cause called The Great Ape Project.

And so the Declaration on Great Apes.

The declaration states that members of the community of equals are not to be deprived of their liberty, and are entitled to immediate release where there has been no form of due process. Under the proposed declaration, the detention of great apes who have not been convicted of any crime or who are not criminally liable should be permitted only where it can be shown that the detention is in their own interests or is necessary to protect the public. The declaration says there must be a right of appeal, either directly or through an advocate, to a judicial tribunal.

Prohibition of torture

The declaration prohibits the torture, defined as the deliberate infliction of severe pain, on any great ape, whether wantonly or because of a perceived benefit to others.