A court has ruled that five elephants being held in a Colorado zoo do not have the legal right to pursue their release, because they are not human. An animal rights group brought a lawsuit on behalf of the elephants from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, using a legal process known as habeas corpus.
A writ of habeas corpus - Latin for "you may have the body"' - is a legal manoeuvre which requires a court to examine the legality of a detention. The Nonhuman Rights Project (NRP), which took the case to court, had argued the elephants, born in the wild in Africa, have shown signs of brain damage because the zoo is essentially "a prison" for such intelligent and social creatures, known to roam for miles a day.
Their hope was the court would rule in their favour and pave the way for the mammals to be sent to an elephant sanctuary instead. But the zoo said moving the elephants and potentially placing them with new animals would be cruel at their age, possibly causing unnecessary stress.
It added they are not used to being in larger herds and, based on the zoo's observations, the elephants don't have the skills or desire to join one. Elephants have nicknames for each other, scientists find in 'really exciting' discovery. American tourist, 80, killed by charging elephant during safari tour at Kafue National Park in Zambia.
