Happy the elephant, who has lived at the Bronx Zoo in New York for 45 years, must remain there after a New York court ruled she is not legally a person.
Born in the wild in Asia in the early 1970s, Happy was captured as a one-year-old and taken to the US. She arrived at the Bronx Zoo in 1977.
Campaigners at the Nonhuman Rights Project claimed that Happy was worthy of the right to be considered a person. The animal rights group hoped to have Happy transferred to a larger sanctuary.
On Tuesday (14 June), the state’s highest court voted 5-2 to reject the Nonhuman Rights Project’s argument that Happy was being illegally confined at the zoo, BBC reports.
Happy to remain at the Bronx Zoo
The court said that although elephants are “impressive”, they are not entitled to the same liberty rights as humans.
The decision means Happy will not be released to a more spacious sanctuary. An online petition created by the Nonhuman Rights Project to get Happy transferred has received more than 1.4 million signatures.
In a statement, the Nonhuman Rights Project said “this is not just a loss for Happy, whose freedom was at stake in this case and who remains imprisoned in a Bronx Zoo exhibit”.
The group said it “sought Happy’s legal personhood and right to liberty under New York common law, which is judge-made law that’s meant to evolve with the times”.
Nonhuman Rights Project legal challenge
“The fact remains that Happy deserves to live freely and with peace and dignity in the vastly larger, more natural environment of a sanctuary designed to respect elephant autonomy,” it added.
The Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the zoo, said Happy is well cared for.
Last month, wildlife conservation charity Born Free released a report titled ‘Elephants in Zoos: A Legacy of Shame’ that calls for a ban on keeping elephants in captivity.
Paignton Zoo in Devon recently confirmed that it will no longer keep elephants, and Belfast Zoo has also decided to phase out the animals.
Image: Gigi Glendinning/Nonhuman Rights Project
