New home found for Sandra the orangutan

Sandra, a 29-year-old orangutan, is pictured at Buenos Aires’ zoo, on Monday. AFP

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—A Brazilian nature reserve has agreed to take in an orangutan who shot to fame when a court ruled she was a “non-human” being unlawfully held at a zoo, lawyers said Thursday.

READ: Argentine court orders ‘unlawfully jailed’ orangutan freed

The case of Sandra, a 30-year-old orangutan, made news around the world last December when an Argentine court ruled she had thoughts, feelings and certain basic rights, and as such was being subjected to unjust confinement at the Buenos Aires Zoo.

The case was brought by animal rights activists who filed a “habeas corpus” writ for Sandra—a form of legal redress against unlawful imprisonment.

It has opened a legal morass over what to do with the orangutan, who was born in captivity in Germany and has never lived outside a zoo.

Five months into a second court case to decide her fate, the Sorocaba nature reserve in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has now agreed to take in Sandra, said lawyer Andres Gil Dominguez, who represents the orangutan for the Argentine Association of Professionals and Lawyers for Animal Rights.

“The nature reserve will pay for her transfer and supervise her transportation,” he said.

Judge Elena Liberatori, who is presiding over the current case, must give the green light for the transfer.