Sandra the orangutan entitled to basic human rights and must be freed from zoo, court says

SANDRA the orangutan is entitled to basic human rights and must be freed from her zoo home of 20 years, a landmark court decision says.

CORRECTS THAT THE ORANGUTAN IS NOT A "NON-HUMAN PERSON" - An orangutan named Sandra looks through a window at a journalist inside her enclosure at the Buenos Aires' Zoo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. An Argentine court has ruled that Sandra, who has spent 20 years at the zoo, is entitled to some legal rights enjoyed by humans. The ruling would free Sandra from captivity and have her transferred to a nature sanctuary after a court recognized that the primate has some basic human rights. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

AN ORANGUTAN is entitled to basic human rights and must be freed from her zoo home of 20 years, an Argentine court has ruled.

The orangutan, named Sandra, is taking her new-found fame in stride after the legal decision, munching a melon and putting the rind on her head as she hammed it up for the cameras at the Buenos Aires Zoo.

In a world first, a court ruled last week that Sandra was entitled to some of the basic rights of a human being and as such was being subjected to unjust confinement at the zoo, where she has lived for the past two decades.

Cousins ... Sandra peers through a window at a journalist inside her enclosure at the Buenos Aires' Zoo. Picture: AP

But Sandra appeared unfazed by all the attention, as journalists gathered outside her enclosure Monday.

The 29-year-old orangutan lazily picked the seeds from a green melon as she ate it, then donned the rind as a hat atop her long reddish hair.

Zoo officials said they were still scratching their heads at the court’s decision.

“This is how she’s lived for the past 20 years. It’s a large space, there are specialists who take care of her diet, monitor her health, and in general she lives in very good conditions,” said Adrian Sestelo, chief biologist at the zoo.

Do I not bleed? ... Sandra ponders life inside her enclosure at Buenos Aires' Zoo. She has lived her entire life in captivity. Picture: AP

But that is not the way everyone sees it.

Argentina’s Association of Professionals and Lawyers for Animal Rights filed a “habeas corpus” writ — a form of legal redress against unlawful imprisonment — arguing that Sandra was a “non-human being” with thoughts, feelings and rights.

Sandra — who was born in a German zoo in 1986 and moved to Argentina in 1994 — is known for her shyness at the zoo, where she often hides from sight.

Animal activists had said that was a sign of depression, but Mr Sestelo disagrees.

“It’s not true. That shows ignorance of the species’ basic biology,” he said.

“Orangutans live solitary lives. Their behaviour is very relaxed, very calm,” he said, as Sandra tugged on a green rope inside her enclosure.

Fashion forward ... Sandra wears a slice of melon as a hat as she mugs for the cameras after a landmark legal ruling declaring she was entitled to basic human rights as a ‘non-human person’. Picture:

— Born in captivity —

Sandra weighs about 50 kilograms and is almost 1.5 metres tall.

She is a cross between the two species of orangutan, one from the Southeast Asian island of Borneo and the other from the nearby island of Sumatra.

Born after her mother was artificially inseminated at the Zoo Rostock in Germany, Sandra has never lived in the wild.

Wild apes have a life expectancy of about 30 to 40 years but can live longer in captivity.

Snack time ... Sandra will be transferred to a sanctuary where she is expected to live a more comfortable and happy life, lawyers said. Picture: AFP

Zoo officials said that even before the court decision, they had been exploring two new homes for Sandra: a nature reserve in Brazil or a zoo in the US with a specialised orangutan shelter.

But Mr Sestelo questioned the wisdom of taking the matter to court.

“Speaking from a technical point of view, all animals have the right to life and animal rights. What you can’t do is humanise animal behaviour,” said the biologist.

“It’s very characteristic of humans,” he said.

“We want to liken their behaviour to ourselves, but that’s a natural error of humankind.”

Sad? ... Biologists dispute animal rights groups’ claims Sandra that was depressed, and warned against reading human emotions into the behaviour of wild animals. Picture.

A similar case was thrown out earlier this month by a New York court, when an animal rights group petitioned for a privately-owned chimpanzee to be considered a “person” for legal purposes.

Sandra looked uninterested in all the legal wrangling.

Approaching the photographers’ lenses, she sized them up from behind her glass wall, then went to play under some leafy trees.