Why are our closest cousins kept in zoos?

Question

There is only one link that seperates us from them. Just because they are evolutionary challenged, why should they have less rights as the rest of us. Or do they have the same rights? Can our cousins vote, and can they find fair legal representation? If on a safari, someone accidentially hits and kills one of our cousins. Is the unfortunately victim considered road kill, or can murder charges be brought up against the driver?

In some parts of the world our cousins are allowed to roam free, why not here in the US?

Not from PETA, I love meat.

I am sure a good trainer (umm teacher) can teach our cousins to start a fire and do a lot things that we do.

We bite and carry diseases

Snout,

I LOVE IT. I notice that Hawkins is a supporter. Yeah I like to see how people would like to compete against a primate for a job. If that ever happened a lot doors will be opened. Missionaries shine up those shoes.

Geezah, not a desperate argument against science. Actually I support science, I just like to sit and listen to the excuse when the "use" of science caused by man has caused.

Answer 1

These are (broadly speaking) questions that are now being taken seriously by some philosophers and ethicists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_ape_project

While conferring the "right to vote" is obviously absurd, there are serious moral arguments against keeping other great apes in captivity (humans, of course being the most common and widespread species of great ape).

Many people consider that "personhood" can only be an attribute of humans. Primatology, ethology and some lines of philosophical enquiry suggest the boundary is not as clear as some assume.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ape_personhood

Answer 2

Smoking Chimp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viVqPVVzOUU

Answer 3

Because they are not our cousins. They are animals, and they will NEVER be anything else, not in a million years. There is a lot more than "one link" that separates us. They were created differently from us, and we have never been biologically related in any way. Common design implies a common DESIGNER. Did you know that the lug nuts from a Chevy will fit on a Pontiac? That's because they had a COMMON DESIGNER - not because they evolved from a Honda 50 million years ago.

Answer 4

Chimpanzees are indeed very genetically similar to humans - about 1% i believe - but the simple fact is, although chimps and humans are both fellow animals, they arent humans. And in any case, considering black members of the human race were treated like animals fairly recently in human history, it doesnt hold much hope for the chimps chances for equal human rights.

Answer 5

Hey I have a thumb and can make a fire. I put on warm clothes when it's cold and I use an umbrella in the rain.
That makes me superior to your cousins.
Please go away with the aspiration of getting me to dumb down to the level of an animal.
I would call it road kill plain and simple.

Answer 6

In some areas of the world, babboons gather into gangs of ruffians. And the people are too stupid to do anything about it.

Answer 7

Are you from P.E.T.A.?

Or are you just trying to post rhetorical questions to make some desperate argument against science?

Answer 8

Not sure about you but I'd prefer not to have to dodge even more animals while driving. The deer are bad enough.

Answer 9

They are extremely dangerous. They bite and carry deceases that we can catch.

It is the very fact that they are so like us that makes them so dangerous

Answer 10

Actually according to DNA, pigs are more like humans. That is why pig valves (and other parts) are transplanted successfully in humans. Pigs are also used by courts to represent humans for time-line death dates.