As New Zealand declares 'whales are people,' here are some curious cases involving animals 

Whales 

You might be familiar with these pictures, but did you know these are selfies? In 2011, photographer David Slater had his camera hijacked by a black macaque nicknamed 'Naruto'. These selfies went viral and PETA felt that the monkey should receive royalties from the pics. The case ended with the photographer donating 25 per cent of the selfie revenues to Naruto and the protection of the monkey's species.

Happy, an Asian elephant, which has lived in the Bronx Zoo for over 45 years, deserves rights reserved for a "person" claims the Nonhuman Rights Project. As per the organisation, the more than four decades in zoos were illegal confinement in a "one-acre prison". They want Happy to be transferred to a spacious sanctuary. The appeal was denied by New York's Court of Appeals, which in a 5-2 decision said "Happy, as a nonhuman animal, does not have a legally cognizable right to be at liberty under New York law."

As per IUCN, the longnose harlequin frog is extinct. However, the frog has "risen" to stop a mining project in Ecuador's Intag Valley. Campaigners say the project will unleash disaster on the species that was thought to have died out in 1989. In March 2023, upholding the 'rights of nature', a court ordered the revocation of mining licences of the firms behind the project.

In California, an appeals court gave Bumblebees the legal status of 'fish' in June 2022. Using a vague half-century-old law, the court sought to protect bees, which it said are dying out fast. It added bees to the list of endangered species that need protection. While the ruling was contested, the California Supreme Court upheld it and bees are still fish.