Spain seeks ground-breaking law for great apes

Villena, Spain: For decades Achille, 50, eked out a miserable existence living alone in wretched conditions in a cramped circus cage. But better da...

Villena, Spain: For decades Achille, 50, eked out a miserable existence living alone in wretched conditions in a cramped circus cage.

But better days could lie ahead for the chimpanzee and almost 150 great apes in Spain who stand to benefit from a pioneering bill that would strengthen laws safeguarding their well-being.

Animal rights activists hope the draft legislation will drive the debate on apes' legal status -- in Spain and beyond.

"Apes are like us, they are sociable animals," said Olga Bellon, a primate expert at the Primadomus foundation that took in Achille.

Putting them through the treatment Achille suffered "is inhumane", she told AFP.