Chantek, the Orangutan who used Sign Language, dies at 39

I didn't put this in the pets forum because Chantek was not a pet , the 15 min video below explains why I put this in the people forum.

Chantek was people , his species and other primates are people too just not human people and in today's world that's a big plus in my book.

Chantek wasn't special , he wasn't the Einstein of the orangutan world but he was , through his use of sign language , a representative of his species who showed the world that humans are not the only sentient species on this rock and he deserves , I believe , to be acknowledged and remembered at the time of his passing , sadly that time is now.


In the 21st century isn't it time we acknowledged our primate cousins as non-human people and gave them some of the rights we assign to ourselves , the right to live free from the fear of persecution , the right to have a home where they can live in peace without being hunted and killed so their children can be sold to rich scumbags , the right of protection under the law should anyone violate their rights , how civilised are we if we can't afford the protections we enjoy to our closest relatives.

In a statement, Zoo Atlanta said that at 39, Chantek was one of the oldest male orangutans in North American zoos. His cause of death was not yet known, it said, but vets had been treating him for progressive heart disease. Orangutans are considered geriatric after the age of about 35, the zoo added.
Chantek was born at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Georgia and was sent to live with anthropologist Lyn Miles at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
www.bbc.co.uk...

RiP Chantek , Cousin.

a reply to: gortex

I cant watch the video at the moment but did he 'talk to himself' like Koko the gorilla did on occasion when she was left alone?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

There's no mention of it in the video mate but I guess it's possible.

a reply to: gortex

That always struck me when they would show Koko singing to herself while looking at magazines or what not, using the proper signs and making comments on the photos.

a reply to: gortex

I can't help but think, with what I view as a terribly difficult life for many reasons, that perhaps he is finally at peace and rest. Thank goodness the Atlanta Zoo offered shelter for the last remaining years.
www.timesfreepress.com...
Not saying I agree or disagree, completely, with her 'research'.

a reply to: gortex

In the 21st century isn't it time we acknowledged our primate cousins as non-human people and gave them some of the rights we assign to ourselves

Human Rights? What are those? We violate that s*** en masse all the time.

Since we consider ourselves 'evolved' from the great apes, we hold they are less thans , we can do any experimentation on them we want. Steal their habitat, burn it down, poach them, sell their babies. Kind of par for the course.

See a place called the Middle East.

Primates are not our cousins... We are all animals. We tell ourselves BS but we are just like them in ways we adhere to the Sam natural impulses and die from the same exposures. We are a self aware, and self terminating kind of species that no matter what we do the other animals in the zoo womt tell you anything you didn't teach it, like us.