Colorado’s highest court on Tuesday ruled that five elderly elephants don’t have legal standing to sue to leave a local zoo because they’re not human.
An animal rights group had sought to have the African elephants, Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo, freed from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and moved to an elephant sanctuary, citing a legal process known as “habeas corpus” that allows individuals in custody to challenge their detention or incarceration in court.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled 6-0 in favor of an earlier district court decision, saying that from a legal standpoint, the question “boils down to whether an elephant is a person.” “It bears noting that the narrow legal question before this court does not turn on our regard for these majestic animals generally or these five elephants specifically,” State Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter wrote in her ruling. But, she added, “because an elephant is not a person, the elephants here do not have standing to bring a habeas corpus claim” under Colorado law.
The Nonhuman Rights Project, a U.S.-based animal advocacy organization, had submitted affidavits from seven animal biologists in support of its case. They explained that elephants share numerous cognitive capacities with humans — including self-awareness, empathy, and the ability to learn and communicate. In the wild, elephants travel for many miles each day in complex social groups, the experts said.
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