The Spanish parliament's environmental committee has approved resolutions that would confer rights on apes. The resolutions are from the Great Apes Project which studies the lives and behavior of non-human great apes.

The Great Apes Project has declared great apes including chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans, should have the rights to life, liberty and freedom from torture. Great apes deprived of liberty would be entitled to due process.   

If Spain's parliament adopts the resolutions, it would be illegal to hold apes for animal experiments, circuses, television commercials and films. It would still be legal to hold apes in zoos, but observers agree it would mean a drastic improvement in their living conditions.

Spain does not currently have any apes held for research.

Click here for to read and sign the Great Apes Declaration.

Click here to read about the Great Ape Protection Act pending in the U.S. and how you can support this bill.