A bill of rights for dolphins: They're so smart we must treat them as 'non human persons' [View all]

[G_j]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2104034/A-rights-dolphins-Theyre-smart-treat-non-human-persons-say-scientists.html?ITO=1490

A bill of rights for dolphins: They're so smart we must treat them as 'non human persons' say scientists

By Fiona Macrae
24 February 2012

Dolphins are so intelligent that they should be thought of as ‘non-human persons’ and given their own bill of rights, it is claimed.

A coalition of scientists, philosophers and animal welfare groups have come up with a declaration of dolphin rights which they hope will one day be enshrined in law.

This would stop them being kept in zoos and waterparks, and being attacked by fishermen.

Whales would also be elevated above other animals by the list of rules, leading to whalers being classed as murderers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference heard in Vancouver.
Whale watching trips would be subject to regulations which would respect the creatures’ privacy, and developers and oil companies would have to give huge consideration to the effect their projects would have on the animals’ life and culture.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2104034/A-rights-dolphins-Theyre-smart-treat-non-human-persons-say-scientists.html#ixzz1rqJQ0FSV


~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.thewhalepeople.com/2010/10/endangered-whales-dolphins-wipe-those-smiles-off-your-faces/


... researchers announced the discovery that dolphin DNA and human DNA aren’t that dissimilar! In fact a dolphin’s genetic makeup:

“ …is amazingly similar to humans. They’re closer to us than cows, horses, or pigs, despite the fact that they live in the water.”, as quoted by Seema Kumar of Discovery Channel Online.


“The extent of the genetic similarity came as a real surprise to us,” says David Busbee of Texas A&M University. He hopes his research will reveal how long ago humans and dolphins branched off the evolutionary tree. There’s been some speculation that dolphins and whales, who breathe air, may have returned to the water AFTER first evolving into land animals.


“Dolphins are marine mammals that swim in the ocean and it was astonishing to learn that we had more in common with the dolphin than with land mammals,” says geneticist Horst Hameister.


Busbee says, “If we can show that humans are similar to dolphins, and anything that endangers dolphins is an equal concern for humans, it may be easier to persuade governments to keep oceans clean.”

..more..