Section one of this chapter discusses legal strategies being used to fight for nonhuman animals to gain personhood and rights in the United States and elsewhere, such as establishing chimpanzees’ complex cognition and autonomy. It also provides details on cases brought on behalf of individual apes, including some civil court cases that resulted in acknowledgement of rights. This section also explores the idea of nonhuman rights at the species level.
Section two of this chapter updates captive ape population statistics. While registration and reporting practices vary considerably around the globe, available data suggest that the number of captive apes in zoos is relatively static, and breeding and reproductive rates are lower overall in non-habitat countries. Data also indicate that rescue centers and sanctuaries in habitat countries are accepting apes at unsustainably high rates, meaning urgent measures must be taken to increase sanctuary capacity while at the same time reduce the killing and capture of, and trade in, apes.