Argentine zoo improves space for orangutan designated as "non-human person" [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Argentine zoo improves space for orangutan designated as "non-human person"
EFE | Buenos Aires 14 May 2015

The Buenos Aires Zoo is renovating the enclosure that houses "Sandra," a female orangutan at the center of a legal battle between the facility and animal rights activists calling for her transfer to a wildlife sanctuary, a dispute that has resulted in the creature being recognized as a "non-human person."

In light of veterinarians' recommendations a month ago, an "environmental enrichment" effort is underway at Sandra's enclosure, with the work starting shortly before a court recognized an animal rights group as the orangutan's legal representative, a zoo spokesman told Efe.

http://www.efe.com/efe/noticias/english/life/argentine-zoo-improves-space-for-orangutan-designated-non-human-person/4/2062/2612548

(Short article, no more at link.)

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From January, 2015:

Argentine orangutan granted unprecedented legal rights
Emiliano Giménez, Special to CNN Espanol
Updated 2:29 PM ET, Sun January 4, 2015

Editor's Note: Read this story in Spanish at CNN Espanol.

(CNN Espanol)—In a world first, a court in Argentina issued a historic and unprecedented ruling that favors the rights of an orangutan held in captivity. Sandra the orangutan was granted a legal action so she may be transferred to a habitat in keeping with her development.

Argentina's Association of Professional Lawyers for Animal Rights filed a writ of habeas corpus, a resource to avoid arbitrary arrests, on Sandra's behalf. Once the release and transfer order is issued, the orangutan would be taken to a sanctuary in Brazil, where she would live under partial or controlled freedom.

Sandra, who has been living in captivity for the past 20 years at the Buenos Aires Zoo, was considered a "nonhuman being" and she was granted basic rights, such as life, freedom and a premise of "no harm" either physically or psychologically.

Argentina's Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation ruled the primate is a subject of law, "a nonhuman being that has certain rights, and can enforce them through legal procedure," according to Andrés Gil Domínguez, Sandra's attorney.

"This is an unprecedented ruling, the first ruling worldwide," said the lawyer.

Previously, Argentine laws interpreted animals as things.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/23/world/americas/feat-orangutan-rights-ruling/