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Chimps’ lawyers argue primates deserve personhood

Manhattan’s vaunted ​state ​appeals court turned into a circus Thursday as animal rights activists argued their longshot “Planet of the Apes”-style bid to grant primates the same ​legal ​rights enjoyed by humans.

“I’m here on behalf of two chimps, Tommy and Kiko,” attorney Steven Wise​ ​began​ his argument​.

The animals themselves were not in court. They are currently caged on private property in upstate New York.

Wise and his organization, The Nonhuman Rights Project, want the judge to grant the chimps a writ of habeas corpus and find that they have a right to live in their natural habitats.

The Latin term habeas corpus literally means “have the body.” It usually refers to the legality of a prisoner’s confinement.

“We are saying there’s an illegal detention that violates their fundamental rights,” Wise argued. He asking the court to move the primates to a 150-acre animal sanctuary “Save the Chimps” in Fort Pierce, Fla.

The five-judge panel were highly skeptical about the case.

“Is there any law as to elephants,” asked Judge Troy Karen Weber? What about lions, tigers or monkeys, she pressed.

Wise admitted that there’s no precedent for granting animals habeas corpus. But, he said, at one time women and slaves were also denied fundamental rights.

“They didn’t evolve from something else. They were all humans,” Judge Dianne Renwick responded.

Steven WiseAP

Her colleague, Judge Paul Feinman, noted that the organization has lost similar cases before different New York courts.

“Why would we reach a different result?” Feinman asked.

Lawyers for Tommy and Kiko’s current owners did not attend the hearing.

But Kiko’s keeper, Carmen Presti, has said that he rescued the deaf chimp decades ago from an abusive carnival trainer.

The appeals court, which recently heard arguments related to the death of Eric Garner and a corporate merger involving Verizon, is expected to rule on the chimps in the coming weeks.