A female lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) photographed at the Bronx zoo in 2007.

According to Reuters the Spanish Congress is set to extend legal rights to apes in captivity, ending cruel experiments, isolation in circuses, and other forms of mistreatment. (Zoos will still be allowed to keep apes but the conditions there must be improved.) Although not yet passed, the legislation has enough support that victory is close. The folks behind the Great Ape Project have been pivotal in pushing this initiative and I sincerely hope that other countries in which apes are still subject to cruelty in labs, circuses, and elsewhere follow Spain’s example.

From “Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History”

[Hat-tip to SciGuy and