Media Center

Breaking stories, news coverage, photography & publications

To arrange interviews with or seek a comment from any of our staff, please contact Communications Director Lauren Choplin. If you’re a reporter on deadline, please call 856-381-9447. If you’re not a member of the press, please write to us at info@nonhumanrights.org or visit our contact us page.

NhRP Photography

The NhRP wishes to extend deep gratitude to photographers—professional and amateur—from around the globe who have graciously donated photographs to us for use on our website and in our educational materials. Photo credit is given at the bottom right-hand corner of each image, with click on the camera icon. To learn more about our photographers, click here.

NhRP Media Releases

NhRP Insiders Newsletters

NhRP in the News

News Articles

2017

Nonhuman rights: is it time to unlock the cage? (Bostonia, Summer 2017)
Chimpanzees are not ‘persons,’ appeals court says (Washington Post, 6/10/17)
Appeals Court Says Chimps Are Not Legal Persons—Here’s Why They’re Wrong (Gizmodo, 6/9/17)
Advocates of Caged NY Chimps Lose Habeas Appeal (Courthouse News Service, 6/9/17)
Appeals court rules that chimps still aren’t people (New York Post, 6/8/17)
Chimps are not people, cannot be freed from custody: New York court (Reuters, 6/8/17)
This lawyer isn’t monkeying around (Nonprofit Chronicles, 6/6/17)
A Legal Fight for Nonhuman Animals Thousands of Years in the Making (HuffPost, 5/11/17)
Chimps Could Soon Win Legal Personhood (YES! Magazine, 4/29/17)
Corporations and rivers now have rights. Animals are next (Philly Daily News, 4/18/17)
How Colleen Plumb Uses Her Art to Highlight the Plight of Animals in Captivity (Village Voice, 4/5/17)
Things to Persons: Steven Wise and the Nonhuman Rights Project (The Gazelle, 4/1/17)
Should animals count as persons under the law? (Dallas Morning News, 3/23/17)
Precedent in Chimpanzee Rights Cases Could Backfire on Humans: Lawyer (NBC News, 3/17/17)
Em nome de Tommy e Kiko (piauí, 3/16/17)
Chimpanzees are animals. But are they ‘persons’? (Washington Post, 3/16/17)
New York court to determine if chimp is legally a person (Associated Press, 3/16/17)
Chimp Advocate Doggedly Pursues Animal Rights (New York Law Journal, 3/15/17)
New York Chimps Will Get Another Day in Court (The Wall Street Journal, 3/14/17)
Should a Chimpanzee Be Considered a Person? (Gizmodo, 3/13/17)
Primal Rights: One Attorney’s Quest for Chimpanzee Personhood (Law360, 3/13/17)
Do Apes Deserve ‘Personhood’ Rights? Lawyer Heads to N.Y. Supreme Court to Make Case (NBC News, 3/11/17)
‘Unlocking the Cage’ Debates Personhood (EcoSalon, 2/27/2017)
HBO’s ‘Unlocking the Cage’ doesn’t just want to free the chimps (The Daily Dot, 2/24/17)
The True Story of ‘Unlocking the Cage’: The Latest Fight for Animal Rights (Men’s Journal, 2/21/17)
‘Unlocking the Cage swings into animal ‘personhood’ debate (CNN, 2/20/17)
Progressing the Person and Policy (Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology, 1/24/17)
True Grit: How To Fight 30 Years for Your Life’s Purpose (Forbes, 1/20/17)

2016

The Nonhuman Rights Project: An Interview with Steven Wise (Psychology Today, 12/16/16)
Volksinitiative verlangt Grundrechte für Primaten (INFOsperber, 11/15/16)
Why Granting Animals’ ‘Personhood’ is so Important (One Green Planet, 10/29/16)
We Are Not Alone: Listening to the 8.7 Million Other Animals Who Live on Earth (Truthout, 10/1/16)
Who Speaks for the Trees? (The Baffler, 9/7/16)
The lawyer fighting for animal rights in ‘Unlocking the Cage’ asks: ‘What kind of being are you?’ (Los Angeles Times, 6/24/16)
This Lawyer Is Fighting To Give Chimpanzees Legal Rights (Huffington Post, 6/1016)
Unlocking The Cage Premieres in New York City (Their Turn, 6/7/16)
Chimp Who Has Spent Lifetime In Concrete Cell Is Missing” (The Dodo, 6/3/16)
Review: Unlocking the Cage (rogerebert.com, 5/25/16)
Review: In ‘Unlocking the Cage,’ a Struggle to Raise the Legal Status of Chimpanzees (The New York Times, 5/24/16)
This man is trying to help chimps — and soon, elephants — sue their owners (Washington Post, 5/24/16)
Chimpanzees are about to have their ‘Blackfish’ moment (Fusion, 5/16/16)
The 30-Year Fight for Chimps’ Rights (Sydney Morning Herald, 5/3/15)
Is a chimp a person? Advocates take it to court (Albany Times Union, 4/4/16)
Are Animals ‘Things’? (Harvard Magazine, March-April 2016)
Lawyer says 2 chimpanzees held captive in New Iberia Research Center (The Times-Picayune, 3/9/16)
Film Review: Unlocking the Cage (Variety, 2/8/16)
Jane Goodall Deployed in Battle over Star Chimp” (Courthouse News Service, 1/11/16)
‘Personhood’ chimpanzees returned to owners, ending animal rights litigation (Science, 1/8/16)

2015

Animals Are Persons, Too (Earth Island Journal, Winter 2015)
Group Files New Habeas to Release Captive Chimp (New York Law Journal, 12/9/15)
Why the public applauds the dwindling attraction of animal acts (Washington Post, 11/10/15)
CHIMPANZÉS SEQUESTRADOS (piauí, Oct. 2015)
No habeas corpus; chimps are lab ‘property’ (Arc Technica, 8/3/15)
Judge denies legal personhood for chimps—for now (Slate, 7/31/15)
Chimps Aren’t People, New York State Supreme Court Judge Rules (Wall Street Journal, 7/30/15)
Arguing in Court Whether 2 Chimps Have the Right to ‘Bodily Liberty’ (The New York Times, 5/27/15)
Chimpanzee Rights Get A Day in Court (WIRED, 5/27/15)
“Research Chimps Get Their Day in Court in New York (NPR, 5/27/15)
Chimpanzee representatives argue for animals’ rights in New York court (The Guardian, 5/27/15)
NYC judge hears argument on rights of chimpanzees (Chicago Tribune, 5/27/15)
Elephants are people too (or soon could be) (Al Jazeera America, 4/23/15)
Are Chimps Entitled to Personhood Rights? NY Court to Decide (LiveScience, 4/23/15)
NY judge recognizes chimps as persons: A step toward legal rights for animals? (Christian Science Monitor, 4/21/15)
New York Judge Grants Chimpanzees a Hearing (Wall Street Journal, 4/21/15)
A New York Judge Has Granted Legal Person Rights to Chimpanzees (io9, 4/21/15)
People Are Animals, Too: The Truth about Animal Intelligence (Buzzfeed, 2/11/15)

2014

Chimps Are Persons Too: The Nonhuman Rights Project and the Quest for Animal Rights (Laika, 12/31/14)
A Lawyer Makes the Case That Chimpanzees Should Be Legal People (VICE, 10/13/14)
Chimp Plaintiffs Get Their Day in Court in Pursuit of Personhood (The Dodo, 10/13/14)
The battle to make Tommy the chimp a person (BBC News Magazine, 10/9/14)
See you in court: human rights fight for chimp (Sunday Times UK, 10/5/14)
Should Chimps Be Given Human Rights? (Mirror UK, 10/5/14)
Courts Will Decide if Chimpanzees Should Have Same Rights as Humans (New York Post, 10/4/14)
Appeals Court to Weigh Personhood for Chimpanzees (Albany Times Union, 10/3/14)
Oregon Comes Closer to Recognizing Animal Personhood (Ecorazzi, 9/8/14)
NhRP’s Fight for Animal Rights (Vue Weekly, 8/20/14)
Animals Are More Than Mere Things. Let’s Treat Them That Way (Huffington Post, 7/21/14)
Steven Wise, President of the Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc. (Sun Sentinel, 6/24/14)
Should a Chimp be Able to Sue Its Owner (New York Times Magazine, 4/23/14)
“Are Animal Rights ‘Human’ Rights? (Huffington Post, 2/6/14)
Chimpanzees Sue For Their Freedom (With A Little Human Help) (Huffington Post, 1/23/14)

2013

Animal rights group fights for SBU chimps (Village Times Herald, 12/12/13)
Courts Say Chimps Aren’t People (TIME, 12/10/13)
Considering the Humanity of Nonhumans (The New York Times, 12/9/13)
A Chimp’s Day in Court: Inside the Historic Demand for Nonhuman Rights (WIRED, 12/6/13)
NY court asked to give chimpanzee ‘legal person’ status (BBC, 12/4/13)
Will chimps soon have human rights? (The Guardian, 12/4/13)
This Man Was Shocked When His Chimpanzee Sued Him (Daily Beast, 12/3/13)
Rights Group Is Seeking Status of ‘Legal Person’ for Captive Chimpanzee (The New York Times, 12/2/13)
Lawsuits Could Turn Chimpanzees Into Legal Persons (Science, 12/2/13)
Tommy the chimpanzee wants to be like you: Nonhuman rights group sues to make primate a LEGAL PERSON (Daily Mail, 12/2/13)
Non-Human Persons; Elephants, Great Apes, and Cetaceans Have Brilliant Attorneys to Represent Them (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 12/2/13)
Nonhuman Rights Will Start With a Chimp (timzimmernan.com, 7/16/13)
Should Chimpanzees Have Legal Rights (Boston Globe, 7/13/13)

2012

Championing Life and Liberty for Animals (NPR, 10/25/12)

Radio/Podcasts

The Legal Rights of Animals (Legal Talk Network’s Lawyer2Lawyer, 7/7/17)
Should AI be granted legal personhood? (ABC Radio National’s Future Tense, 6/25/17)
An Evolving Topic: Animal Rights with Prof. Sarah Schneider and NhRP President Steven M. Wise (Robot F. Kennedy, 4/18/17)
Steve Wise, Attorney and founder of the Nonhuman Rights Project (The Frank Beckmann Show, 3/14/17)
Almost Human Rights (BBC Radio 4, 12/20/16)
Steven M. Wise, Nonhuman Rights Project (It’s All About Food with Caryn Hartglass, 12/20/16)
Episode 2, featuring Steve Wise (Our Hen House Animal Law Podcast, 7/31/15)
Episode 1, featuring Steve Wise (Our Hen House Animal Law Podcast, 7/28/15)
Steven Wise, Habeas corpus for chimpanzees (Radio New Zealand, 7/14/15)
What About Non-human Rights? (Wisconsin Public Radio, 5/22/14)
The Fight for Legal Rights for Animals (The Diane Rehm Show, 4/28/14)
Granting rights and personhood to animals (CBC Radio, 12/12/13)
The Fight for Legal Personhood for Chimpanzees (ABC Radio National, 5/8/15)
Michael Mountain explains landmark lawsuits (Animals Today Radio, 12/23/13)
American chimpanzee Tommy to be granted legal personhood (Voice of Russia Radio, 12/3/13)

Television & Video

WATCH: Animal rights lawyer says zoos are solitary confinement for animals (Salon, 3/14/17)
Unlocking the Cage – Film looks at chimpanzee rights (BBC World News, 3/2/17)
Should Chimpanzees Have The Same Legal Rights as Humans? (Fox News, 5/27/15)
Steven Wise: Chimps have feelings and thoughts. They should also have rights.” (TED Talk, 3/15)
Are Chimps People Too? A Potential Legal Evolution (Wall Street Journal, 10/9/14)
Nonhuman Rights Project Aims to Grant Legal Personhood Status to Some Species (THIRTEEN, 5/14/14)
Featured Guest – NhRP President Steven M. Wise (The Colbert Report, 7/7/14)
Animals Are Persons Too (New York Times Op-Doc, 4/23/14)

Op-Eds/Opinion

NhRP Executive Director Kevin Schneider, What We Can Learn From the Case of the LA Zoo Elephants That Proves These Elephants Deserve Rights (One Green Planet, 6/9/17)
NhRP President Steven M. Wise, A Legal Fight for Nonhuman Animals Thousands of Years in the Making (Huff Post, 5/11/17)
NhRP President Steven M. Wise, What Chimpanzees Deserve (New York Daily News, 3/16/17)
NhRP President Steven M. Wise, Toward Animal Personhood (Foreign Affairs, 7/11/16)
NhRP President Steven M. Wise, Harambe’s rights were violated long before his tragic death (New York Daily News, 5/30/16)
NhRP President Steven M. Wise, Animal Rights, Animal Wrongs (Foreign Affairs, 4/28/15)
Former NhRP Executive Director Natalie Prosin, Ringling Brothers is Finally Freeing Its Elephant Performers. It’s Not Nearly Enough (Washington Post, 3/10/15)
Former NhRP Executive Director Natalie Prosin, Corporations have legal rights. Chimpanzees should have them too (Washington Post, 9/9/14)
NhRP President Steven M. Wise, Oregon’s top court brings ‘personhood’ for animals closer: Guest opinion (The Oregonian, 9/6/14)

NhRP Publications

Books

Steven M. Wise, Though the Heavens May Fall – The Landmark Trial that Led to the End of Human Slavery (de Capo Press 2005)
Steven M. Wise, Drawing the Line – Science and the Case for Animal Rights (Perseus Publishing 2002)(Unlocking the Cage – Science and the Case for Animal Rights in the UK)
Steven M. Wise, Rattling the Cage – Toward Legal Rights for Animals (Perseus Publishing 2000 US)(Profile Books, UK 2000)

Book Chapters

Steven M. Wise, “Entitling Nonhuman Animals to Fundamental Legal Rights on the Basis of Practical Autonomy” in Animals, Ethics, and Trade (Earthscan 2006)
Steven M. Wise, “Animal Rights, One Step at a Time” in Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions (Cass Sunstein and Martha Nussbaum, eds., Oxford University Press 2004)
Steven M. Wise, “A Great Shout – Breaking the Barriers to Legal Rights for Great Apes” in Great Apes and Humans – The Ethics of Coexistence (Smithsonian Press, 2001), reprinted in Animal Rights (Clare Palmer, ed. The International Library on Rights, Routledge 2008), and in The Animal Ethics Reader (Susan J. Armstrong and Richard G. Boltzler, eds. Routledge 2003)

Law Review Articles

Steven M. Wise, “Introduction to Animal Law Book,” 67 Syracuse L. Rev. 7 (2017)
Steven M. Wise, Elizabeth Stein, Monica Miller & Sarah Stone, “The Power of Municipalities to Enact Legislation Granting Legal Rights to Nonhuman Animals Pursuant to Home Rule,” 67 Syracuse L. Rev. 31 (2017)
Steven M. Wise, “Legal Personhood and the Nonhuman Rights Project” 17 Animal Law 1 (2011)
Steven M. Wise, Commentary, “An Argument for the Basic Rights of Farmed Animals” 106 Mich. L. Rev. First Impressions (2008)
Steven M. Wise, “Arguments in Favour of Basic Legal Rights for Nonhumans” Reform (Australian Law Reform Commission March, 2008)
Steven M. Wise, “The entitlement of chimpanzees to the common law writs of habeas corpus and de homine replegiando to challenge their legal thinghood” 37(2) Golden Gate Law Review 219 ( 2007)
Steven M. Wise, “Rattling the Cage Defended” 43 Boston College Law Review 623 ( 2002)
Steven M. Wise, “Legal status of nonhuman animals” 8 Animal Law 1 (2002)(symposium participant)
Steven M. Wise, “Animal Thing to Animal Person – Thoughts on Time, Place, and Theories” 5 Animal Law 59 (1999)
Steven M. Wise, “Hardly a Revolution – The Eligibility of Nonhuman Animals for Dignity Rights in a Liberal Democracy” 22 Vermont Law Review 793 (1998)
Dr. Jane Goodall and Steven M. Wise, “Why Chimpanzees are Entitled to Fundamental Legal Rights” Joint Presentation to Senior Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association, August 2, 1996, reprinted in 3 Animal Law 61 (1997)
Steven M. Wise, “Legal Rights for Nonhuman Animals: The Case for Chimpanzees and Bonobos” 2 Animal Law 179 (1996).
Steven M. Wise, “The Legal Thinghood of Nonhuman Animals” 23(2) Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review 471 (1996), reprinted in 3 Private Law Review (2003) and 4 Private Law Review (2004)(China University of Politics and Law Publishing)
Steven M. Wise, “How Nonhuman Animals Became Trapped in a Nonexistent Universe” 1 Animal Law 15 (1995)

Encyclopedia Articles

Steven M. Wise, “Animal Rights,” Encyclopedia Britannica

Selected Articles

Steven M. Wise, “A law for the jungle” Times Higher Education Supplement 18 (June 14, 2002)(UK)
Steven M. Wise, “Why Animals Deserve Legal Rights” in Chronicle of Higher Education (February 2, 2001), reprinted in Contemporary Issues Companion: Animal Rights (CICAR)(Jesse Hallmark, ed. Gale Group 2004); Convergences (2nd. ed. 2004, Robert Atwan, ed. St. Martin’s 2004); Writing from Sources (Brenda Spatt, ed., St. Martin’s 2002) and America Now: Short Readings from Recent Periodicals (5th ed., Robert Atwan, ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s 2002)

“
I think it’s time now to be bold, to throw open our imagination and envision a different future for chimpanzees like Tommy. This is what visionaries like Wise encourage us to do: to stand apart from the mainstream and pose new solutions. If those solutions come with a set of challenging questions attached, let’s open a conversation about them, and meet them head on.
”

- Barbara J. King, "TIME"