Examentrainers

		By Marie Woolf
		Political Editor
1		A British woman has
		launched a court
		challenge to become
		the legal guardian of
		a 160lb chimpanzee in
		a test case that could
		confer basic rights on
		apes across Europe.
2		Paula Stibbe, 38,
		a teacher who lives in
		Vienna, has applied to
		the Austrian courts to
		take legal responsibility
		for a 26-year-old male
		chimpanzee which, she fears, could be subjected to
		laboratory tests if he isn’t given legal ‘rights’. Animal-
		welfare organisations see it as a test case that would
		give special legal status to the great apes. It comes as
		Members of Parliament make a fresh attempt to ban animal testing on primates¹
		across Europe.
3		Ms Stibbe, who is originally from Brighton, befriended Hiasl the chimp eight
		years ago and now visits him every week, bringing biscuits and his favourite
		Viennese pastries, clothes, including Wellington boots, and art materials. The
		ape, which has lived in an Austrian animal sanctuary² most of his life after being
		rescued by customs officials as a baby, is facing an uncertain future after the
		sanctuary ran out of cash.
4		Ms Stibbe, who spends hours with Hiasl each week, says she regards him
		as a ‘friend’ and is horrified about the prospect of him being transported to a
		laboratory. If her application to become his legal guardian is successful, she
		would be responsible for making decisions about his welfare.
5		She told The Independent on Sunday she plays hide and seek and watches
		wildlife programmes with him. “He likes being tickled and he likes dressing-up
		clothes,” she said. “He is especially fond of Wellington boots…. He likes drawing
		with coloured chalk, mostly scribbling. He laughs a lot and is very gentle with
		me, even though he has the strength of seven men. He has a special greeting
		for me and tweaks my nose between his middle and index finger when I arrive.
		He enjoys watching TV, and is specially fond of wildlife documentaries. I showed
		him a video of gorillas, and when two gorillas were mating he was completely
		fascinated by them. I want to make sure that he has a fully secure future, and
		does not end up in a lab abroad.”
6		Hiasl was captured as a one-year-old in Sierra Leone and smuggled to
		Austria, where he was bound for a vivisection lab. He was found by customs
		officers after surviving the journey to Europe in a box, and was taken in by the
		sanctuary.
7		[id:69061] he is granted basic legal rights, he could be sent abroad to a
		laboratory when the sanctuary closes. Paula Stibbe’s case follows moves in New
		Zealand and Spain to give rights to great apes. These apes share about 98 per
		cent of their DNA with humans.

noot 1  primate = (mens)aap
noot 2  animal sanctuary = dierenopvang