The way some people talk about human rights for chimps these days you might think that chimpanzees were identical to humans. A Professor Sommer was quoted in an Observer article recently as claiming that ’it’s untenable to talk of dividing humans and humanoid apes because there are no clear-cut criteria—neither biological, nor mental, nor social‘.
That’s strange. We thought chimpanzees were a different species to humans. That is surely a clear-cut biological difference. And even if there is not, that does not mean chimps are identical to humans. Even on the continuous electromagnetic spectrum there is no clear-cut point at which green becomes blue. But it is still possible to make a distinction between green and blue.
The question of whether chimpanzees should have rights equivalent to humans is a political and legal issue. But it should be based on sound science, not contradictory arguments.
The animal rights groups argue for human status for chimpanzees because they are so similar to humans. But at the same time they continuously emphasise the supposed fundamental biological differences between humans and apes. The recent report from the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) on the use of primates in experiments states the following:
There is a perception that, because primates are our close evolutionary cousins, results from tests on them will almost invariably be predictive of human responses. This is not the case: there are highly significant differences between the species in terms of genetics, molecular biology, pharmacology, physiology, absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion and in reactions to drugs and chemicals.
Ultimately, arguing whether things are the same or different is as futile as arguing the length of a piece of string. It all depends on how closely you look and what you define as clear-cut. From the woolly thinking of the animal rights groups, it would be arguable that there is no clear-cut difference between ozone and oxygen. They are made up of exactly the same atomic matter - the only difference is a single additional oxygen atom. But I know which I would rather be breathing.
I do not think that chimps are humans. They should be given a very high level of legal protection—but not human status. Even if the only difference between chimps and humans is that chimps are hairy and swing in trees, that’s enough for me.
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