Elephants are not human beings, Colorado Supreme Court rules

An attempt to release five elephants from a Colorado zoo has been rejected after a court ruled that elephants are not human beings.

An animal rights group claimed that Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo were effectively imprisoned at the zoo and had requested their transfer to an elephant sanctuary.

He attempted to bring a habeas corpus action on behalf of the animals – a legal procedure that allows a person to challenge their detention in court.

The Colorado Supreme Court said the question came down to “whether an elephant is a person” and therefore had the same liberty rights as a human being – ultimately deciding it did not.

She ruled 6-0 in favor of an earlier district court ruling that the state’s habeas corpus procedure “applies only to people, not animals not humans.”

This was true “regardless of their level of cognitive, psychological or social sophistication,” state Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter added in her report. decision.

Although she said the five elderly African elephants were “majestic,” the court ruled the complaint could not be brought “because an elephant is not a person.”

The Nonhuman Rights Project (NRP) has called for elephants to be moved from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to a “suitable elephant sanctuary” in 2023.

The group argued that animals had a right to freedom because they were emotionally complex and intelligent animals.

It claimed the elephants showed signs of “trauma, brain damage and chronic stress” and were effectively “imprisoned” at the zoo.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo denied that request, arguing that the elephants received outstanding care and that it was upheld by a district court.

After the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo called the NRP lawsuit “frivolous” and said it had “wasted” time and money on the case.

He accused the group of “abusing the legal system to raise money” and claimed its goal was to “manipulate people into donating to their cause by continually publishing sensational court cases with appeals incessant calls for supporters to donate.”

The NRP said the decision “perpetuates a clear injustice, affirming that unless an individual is human, they have no right to liberty.”

“As with other social justice movements, early losses are expected as we challenge a well-established status quo that has allowed Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo to be relegated to a life of mental suffering and physical,” the group said in a statement. statement.

A previous NRP bid to release an elephant named Happy from New York’s Bronx Zoo was rejected after the court ruled she was not legally a person.