Dolphins 'deserve same rights as humans'

London, Feb 21 (ANI): Dolphins should be treated as non-human "persons" with a legally enforceable right to life and liberty, the world's biggest science conference heard on Monday.

Experts in philosophy, conservation and dolphin behaviour said that dolphins and whales are sufficiently intelligent to justify the same ethical considerations as given to humans, the Daily Express reported.

They said years of research showed the animals have large, complex brains and a human-level of self-awareness and called for an end to whaling and the captivity of dolphins and whales for entertainment purposes.

"Dolphins are non-human persons. Individuality, consciousness, self awareness, is no longer a unique human property," the Daily Express quoted Tom White as telling the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver, Canada. (ANI)