This country became the first in the world to give legal rights to wild animals

At a time when some countries show total disregard for human rights, Ecuador has gone a step further by expanding the legal rights to cover wild animals, making the South American first in the world to introduce such a concept.

The decision was taken by the country’s highest court when it was hearing a case for Estrellita, a woolly monkey taken from the wild when she was one-month-old and kept as a pet. She later died a month after it was moved to the zoo, reports Inside Climate News.

Ana Beatriz Burbano Proaño, a librarian, kept Estrellita as a pet for 18 years. But in 2019, the authorities moved seized the monkey and moved it to a zoo, saying that owning wild animals as pets is illegal in Ecuador.

A month after it was separated from her owner, the monkey died, following which Proaño filed a habeas corpus petition, asking the court to rule that the monkey’s rights were violated.

The court ruled that Estrellita’s rights were indeed violated by not only the government but also by Burbano Proaño for removing her from her natural habitat at a young age.

The courtnoted that “wild species and their individuals have the right not to be hunted, fished, captured, collected, extracted, kept, retained, trafficked, traded or exchanged,” and that these creatures have individual value not related to their usefulness to humans.

Following the ruling, noted environmental lawyer Hugo Echeverría said, “This verdict raises animal rights to the level of the constitution, the highest law of Ecuador.”

“While rights of nature were enshrined in the constitution, it was not clear prior to this decision whether individual animals could benefit from the rights of nature and be considered rights holders as a part of nature. The court has stated that animals are subject of rights protected by rights of nature,” he said in a press release.

(With inputs from agencies)