Michigan Courts Have Deemed That ‘Chimpanzees Are Not Human’ In Oddest Case This Year

In a year when looking at anything related to court decisions has sparked a wide range of emotions, the latest one from the Michigan Court of Appeals has elicited one reaction everyone can agree on: huh? 

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The Court of Appeals recently ruled that chimpanzees are not considered human, which seems like a no-brainer since they are animals. Still, the lengths the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) went to in an attempt to get the courts to see their side are impressive, including a written report from famed primatologist Jane Goodall, who recently passed away.

Why Did The Courts Rule This Way?

In a brief breakdown provided by Bridge MI, the Court of Appeals was responding to a previously dismissed complaint by The Nonhuman Rights Project after it attempted to free seven chimpanzees (whom the group has dubbed The Deyoung Prisoners) from the DeYoung Family Zoo in the Upper Peninsula. The group claimed that chimps are autonomous beings and should not be confined in this way.

The DeYoung Family Zoo has a whole range of animals, including deer, bears, camels, and kangaroos. While, at first glance, chimpanzees are just another exotic animal in the group, the NhRP argued that, because chimpanzees are brilliant creatures and have social hierarchies similar to those of humans, they should not be kept in deplorable conditions like this.

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The fact that the group persuaded Dr. Jane Goodall to submit written support for recognizing chimpanzees as more than just animals is notable. But it ultimately wasn't enough to convince the court, which based its decision on the slippery slope mentality that if they allow chimpanzees to be considered humans, where would the line be drawn?

“How extraordinary are you willing to go? Elephants, dolphins, chimpanzees, dogs, cats?”

Getting the court to mark chimpanzees as human was a long shot and would have been a groundbreaking declaration in the scientific community and among religious groups, as the debate of human evolution has raged for years. But the NhRP does make a point that the chimpanzee's living conditions are not ideal for animals that roam and climb so freely.

For now, since the appeal was denied, the Zoo will not need to make any changes, but the NrPH plans to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.