New Zealand gives Mount Taranaki same legal rights as a person

The sacred mountain in the North Island is the third geographic feature in the country to be granted a 'legal personality'

Mount Taranaki in New Zealand is to be granted the same legal rights as a person, becoming the third geographic feature in the country to be granted a "legal personality".

Eight local MAori tribes and the government will share guardianship of the sacred mountain on the west coast of the North Island, in a long-awaited acknowledgement of the indigenous people's relationship to the mountain, who view it as an ancestor and whanau, or family member.