Ape Rights?

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I've heard that most animals don't recognize themselves in mirrors, but I've seen two cats that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt did. One was one of two cats my ex roomate had, and many years later, my own cat. Both animals learned that objects behind the cat in the mirror were in fact behind themselves. My roomate's other cat did not seem to exhibit this realization. They would spend more time in front of the mirror than other animals would, and one of them seemed to actually look back and forth from mirror to behind himself frequently, as if referencing the view.

Both of the cats I am talking about were of very, very high intelligence. The other cat that did not seemed kind of dull witted.

[Slytovhand]

If we're going to talk about recognition of self in a mirror as an important and relevant fact, then I should point out that young children don't for a while, and I would even suggest that perhaps if it were not pointed out to them ("Yes, darling, that's you!") that it would take even longer for that realisation to occur.

[Boozy]

Cats are usually more interested in other things that appear in the mirror (for example, another cat) than themselves. They may be able to figure out where those things are placed relative to themselves, but that doesn't mean they're self-aware.

Cats do not meet current scientific criteria for sentience. There is a specific methodology for determining self-awareness with the "mirror test", which I won't post here because it's lengthy and a bit dry. If you're really interested, you can PM me.

[Lace Neil Singer]

In any case, not all zoos are there to ensure that the animals lead as miserable a life as possible while entertaining humans. The zoos I personally have visited have lots of rare breeds that are being actively bred in captivity; the one I went to on holiday had all the proceeds from the gift shop going straight back to the animals. Without zoos, just how do you propose we preserve rare breeds? Sentinent or not, poachers who destroy their habitats and slaughter the apes by the thousand don't give a damn. And it's going to take a lot more than a law saying so to stop these people; they're not allowed to poach anyway, but they still do.

[Slytovhand]

And in some countries, the poachers can be shot on sight...