Chimpanzees are rare and complicated creatures.

Chimpanzees Should Not Be Used in TV or Movies | The Thoughtful Animal, Scientific American Blog Network:

The IUCN’s most recent estimate (in 2003) for the global population of wild chimpanzees is only 172,700 to 299,700 individuals. Indeed, all African countries in which chimpanzees reside have laws against their capture and trade as food or as pets. It should be somewhat surprising, then, that its actually legal for individuals or businesses in the United States to purchase and own chimpanzees as pets, for use in entertainment, and for biomedical research. The question of chimpanzee use for biomedical research is fraught, but the irresponsibility of using chimpanzees in movies and commercials seems fairly straightforward. But not everyone seems to agree – they would argue that it is chimpanzees’ appearance in mainstream media that has actually allowed for the increased public awareness of the existence of chimpanzees.

Proponents of using chimpanzees as “actors” in mass media argue that familiaritybreeds compassion. They argue that the more people see chimps on TV and in movies, the more likely they will be to aid in conservation efforts – even if the chimpanzees are depicted in totally unnatural, contrived situations. And they’re at least partially right: people tend to donate more to help conservation when the species that form the focus of the fundraising campaigns are more familiar.



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