Due to the emotionally demanding nature of activism, animal rights activists are susceptible to burnout. Activist burnout may cause activists to be less effective or even cease being active altogether, potentially destabilizing entire movements. Despite consistent research on the importance of emotional intelligence in relation to burnout, the association between burnout and emotional intelligence has not been studied in activists. The aim for this study has been to better understand the relationship between emotional intelligence and burnout in Swedish animal rights activists. This study conducted a questionnaire and a correlational investigation examining the relationship of Swedish animal rights activists (N = 42) emotional intelligence to their degree of burnout. Measured against the background variables: age, gender, activism frequency and activism risk level, the results found that activists with higher emotional intelligence tend to have a lower level of burnout and vice versa. Emotional intelligence training is suggested alongside a call for more research on activist burnout.