How much do you love monkeys? Enough to grant them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
This is so interesting from both an environmental and political standpoint. If humans aren't placed at the top of the food chain by some omniscient, omnipotent Higher Being (which, after invoking the wrath of hippos, rhinos, and lions in Africa, I don't believe we necessarily were), then where do we draw the line for ethical treatment? Which species deserve rights? Which rights? Why are bonobos more deserving than badgers or bumblebees?
My experiences with monkeys/apes include: They stole Peter's headlamp in Botswana. They plotted how to get takeout containers from a trash can in South Africa. They stole candles and smashed mosquito coils in the Okavango to avoid the awful smell. And just look at the photo at the top of this article--if you put some khakis and a Red Sox t-shirt on him, he might as well be one of my friends chillaxin at Brown.
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