Animal-rights campaigners who helped to save Benjy, the gay Irish bull, from slaughter have welcomed a landmark court ruling, which declares orangutans "non-human persons with legal rights", that could have implications for the Great Apes at Dublin Zoo.

The Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) said it is delighted with last week's ruling by an Argentinian court which granted the intelligent apes the status of "non-human persons", rather than a thing or object.

The ruling came after The Association of Officials and Lawyers for Animal Rights (AFADA) successfully argued that Sandra, a 29-year-old orangutan living in captivity at Buenos Aires Zoo, should be treated as a person, and not a "thing" due to the species' high level of intelligence and the fact great apes share 97pc of human DNA.

ARAN spokesman John Carmody told the Sunday Independent the ruling could mean that orangutans and other highly intelligent apes, such as gorillas and chimpanzees, could ultimately be freed from captivity around the world.

"It really sets a precedent," he said, noting ARAN - which campaigned to save Benjy the "non-performing bull" from slaughter - intend to pursue the matter themselves in the new year with a view to taking a similar legal action in the Irish courts.

"It paves the way for all gorillas and apes, and it could shake up the zoo industry worldwide. I think Dublin Zoo needs to be worried."

But far from sounding like something out of the film Planet of the Apes, in which apes rule the world over enslaved humans, Dublin Zoo director Leo Oosterweghel said the ruling could have implications for its four orangtuans as well as six gorillas, and six chimpanzees, which are all part of the great ape family - along with humans.

"I'm not negative about this development," he told the Sunday Independent.

"The boundary between apes and humans is continuously being blurred and there isn't a day when I'm not amazed at the parallels between human behaviour," he said, noting that the DNA of chimpanzees is closer to humans' DNA than gorillas'.

"This whole field of ethics is a rapidly evolving field. It strengthens the position of animals," he said.

"I'm not surprised," he said of the ruling, but added the outcome "is hard to predict".

Mr Oosterweghel said that he will be watching the implications of the ruling with great interest, but he does not support freeing the Zoo's ape family.

"Not every animal can be taken from an existing situation to a rescue," he told the Sunday Independent.

He said Dublin Zoo is part of the international breeding and conservation programme which is integral to keeping endangered species from becoming extinct, including orangutans, whose native habitat in Borneo and Sumatra is rapidly being destroyed by lucrative palm oil plantations.

Sunday Independent