How Ecuador Became The 1st Country To Give Legal Rights To Wild Animals

This video tells the story of Estrellita, a woolly monkey raised for 18 years by Ecuadorian librarian Ana Beatriz Burbano Proaño. When authorities confiscated Estrellita due to the illegality of keeping wild animals, she died shortly after in a zoo. The court ruled that both Ana and the state violated Estreita’s rights: Ana for possessing a trafficked animal, and the state for causing her death through mistreatment. The case revealed legal gaps in Ecuador’s 2008 constitution which grants rights to nature but not clearly to individual animals. This story sparked national debate and a push for stronger legal protections for animal welfare.