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Legal Personhood: The Case of Chucho the Andean Bear
- Journal of Animal Ethics
- University of Illinois Press
- Volume 11, Number 1, Spring 2021
- pp. 36-46
- Article
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Abstract:
Chucho is an Andean bear who had lived most of his life in semicaptivity in a nature reserve in Manizales, Colombia. After his sister’s death, he became severely depressed, so the environmental authority transferred him to Barranquilla Zoo. A local lawyer filed a writ of habeas corpus based on Chucho’s right as a sentient being to live in his natural habitat. This writ has triggered a complex debate on nonhuman animal legal personhood and animal rights between two of the highest courts in the country: the Supreme Court of Justice and the Constitutional Court.