Page 3 - AT

A3
U.S. NEWS Monday 17 February 2020

$15

$85

Orangutan granted 'personhood' turns 34, makes new friend

WAUCHULA, Fla. (AP) — A a Buenos Aires zoo. Sandra habitat spaces as they con-
orangutan named Sandra, was a bit shy when she ar- tinue to gain confidence in
who was granted legal rived at the Florida center, their relationship."
personhood by a judge in which is home to 22 orang- Judge Elena Liberatori's
Argentina and later found utans. landmark ruling in 2015 de-
a new home in Florida, cel- "Sandra appeared most clared that Sandra is legal-
ebrated her 34th birthday interested in Jethro, and ly not an animal, but a non-
on Valentine's Day with a our caregivers felt he was human person, and thus
special new primate friend. a perfect choice because entitled to some legal rights
Patti Ragan, director of of his close age, calm de- enjoyed by people, and
the Center for Great Apes meanor, and gentle na- better living conditions.
in Wauchula, Florida, says ture," Ragan said in a news "With that ruling I wanted to
Sandra "has adjusted beau- release. "Sandra still ob- tell society something new,
tifully to her life at the sanc- serves and follows Jethro that animals are sentient
tuary" and has befriended from a distance while they beings and that the first
Jethro, a 31-year-old male are in the process of get- right they have is our ob-
orangutan. ting to know and trust each ligation to respect them,"
Prior to coming to Florida, other. But they are living she told The Associated This Feb. 15, 2020 photo courtesy of the Center for Great Apes
Sandra had lived alone in harmoniously in the same Press.q shows an orangutan named Sandra in Wauchula, Fla.
Associated Press