Michael Bothrops was born Miguel Aparicio in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 7, 1980 — a Scorpio, which explains more than most biographical details would.

He spent his youth surviving a childhood that would have broken most people, then built much of Portugal's modern animal rights movement — organizing the country's first academic conferences on animal law and ethics, leading national campaigns, stopping hunting tournaments through the courts.

He has studied philosophy and law. He has practiced martial arts since the age of thirteen. He has been a stock trader, a hunger striker, a crowdfunding strategist, a digital marketer, a scrap metal collector, a copywriter, and a veterinary assistant by necessity.

He is a freelancer and the founder of Namigni Animal Sanctuary in the Colombian mountains — Latin America's first dairy farm converted into a sanctuary, which is also the world’s only sanctuary for rescued fighting bulls, home to more than two hundred rescued animals: fighting bulls, dogs rescued from fighting rings, horses, sheep, goats, and pigs.

He is a devotee of La Santa Muerte. He is trilingual in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. He found his true name — Michael Bothrops — in the worst place he's ever been, and has carried it since.

He describes himself as a bad person who does good things. Who everyday tries to. The animals in his care would describe him, in their own way, as the one who shows up every morning.

Born of Asper. Built by Fire.