ALBANY — Apes aren’t us.

In a blow for animal lovers and simian-rights advocates, a five-member state judicial panel unanimously ruled on Thursday that a chimpanzee could not be considered a “legal person” and thus sue for his freedom.

The unusual decision came in response to an unusual legal action brought on behalf of Tommy, an adult chimp who currently lives in a cage in Gloversville, about 50 miles northwest of Albany.

Supporters of the animal, led by the Nonhuman Rights Project, an animal-rights group based in Florida, had argued that Tommy was being held against his will and — as an “autonomous, self-determining being” — had a right to a common-law writ of habeas corpus, a legal means for addressing the unlawful detention of prisoners.

On Thursday, however, Justice Karen K. Peters of the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court, writing for the five-judge panel, said that apes’ lackadaisical approach to civic life meant they did not deserve many of the rights afforded most people reading this article.