Captive orangutan granted basic human rights by Argentine court

An orangutan held in an Argentine zoo can be freed and transferred to a sanctuary after a court recognised the ape as a "non-human person" unlawfully deprived of its freedom.

Animal rights campaigners filed an unprecedented habeas corpus petition - a document more typically used to challenge the legality of a person's detention or imprisonment - last month on behalf of Sandra, a 29-year-old Sumatran orangutan at the Buenos Aires zoo.

Sandra was born into captivity so will not be released into the wild, but will be freed into the care of an animal sanctuary, and now is recognised an individual with some legal rights.

According to Reuters, the landmark ruling that could pave the way for more lawsuits, as the Association of Officials and Lawyers for Animal Rights (AFADA) argued the ape had sufficient cognitive functions and should not be treated as an object.

"This opens the way not only for other Great Apes, but also for other sentient beings which are unfairly and arbitrarily deprived of their liberty in zoos, circuses, water parks and scientific laboratories," the daily La Nacion newspaper quoted AFADA lawyer Paul Buompadre as saying.

The zoo's head of biology, Adrian Sestelo, told La Nacion that orangutans were by nature calm, solitary animals which come together only to mate and care for their young.

The Buenos Aires zoo has 10 working days to seek an appeal.