Experts anticipate that Panama’s bold step will inspire other nations to enact similar laws to safeguard threatened species.
Fromherz views the law and recent judicial rulings as evidence of a growing trend toward acknowledging the legal rights of animals.
In a notable case in Pakistan in 2020, a court ruling declared that animals possess natural rights that should be recognized, denouncing humanity’s treatment of wildlife while drawing on religious doctrines.
Panama’s recognition of sea turtles’ legal rights marks a crucial turning point in wildlife conservation. And evidence of a trend toward protecting and defending the legal rights of animals.