Five elephants at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado now have legal representation fighting on their behalf at the highest court in Colorado. The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), a civil rights organization that uses legal tools to fight for animal rights, has filed an opening brief at the Colorado Supreme Court to ask the Court to overturn a district court’s denial of their habeas petitions filed in June 2023.
A habeas corpus petition asks a court to free someone unlawfully held captive. NhRP initially used this tool for captive elephants in the case of Happy, an elephant at the Bronx Zoo in New York. While the case did not ultimately result in Happy’s release from the zoo, two judges filed dissenting opinions that have provided support to NhRP’s subsequent litigation.
The five elephants in Colorado–Jambo, Kimba, LouLou, Lucky, and Missy–were captured from the wild as babies in the 1970s and 80s and shipped to the US. Animal cognition experts have observed the elephants in captivity and noted they exhibit the typical signs of distress: rocking, swaying, and head bobbing.
It shouldn’t take expensive litigation to force zoos to do the obvious right thing. No zoo in the US can provide enough physical space for one elephant to live in a way that they can carry out their natural behaviors, much less five elephants. The three exhibit cages at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo together comprise less than an acre. Elephants need miles, not acres, and need to forage for their food, not be fed by handlers. Elephants in small enclosures also will never be able to walk enough to keep their feet healthy and free from infection.
Read this excerpt describing the zoo’s response to the filing of the original lawsuit:
With pride, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo states that the ability of the elephants to move multiple times a day “from yard to yard, or indoor space to indoor space” is sufficient for them. The zoo also claims that neither captive nor free elephants enjoy walking or need to walk, which is incorrect. As Dr. Bob Jacobs expressed in his commentary to us on the zoo’s statement, “the zoo doesn’t seem to understand that foraging (which includes walking) consists of more than 20 different behaviors (not just eating), and it constitutes much of a free-roaming elephant’s existence. The zoo also ignores the fact that movement is required to offset calorie intake—and that nearly three-quarters of the elephants in 65 AZA accredited zoos across North America were found to be overweight or obese, putting their health at risk.”
What’s wrong with the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo elephant exhibit – NhRP
Ironically, zoos with staff who actually know what it takes to keep an elephant healthy, don’t keep elephants. The Detroit Zoo was the first in 2005 to release its elephants to a sanctuary. The director of the zoo, Ron Kagan, admitted there was no way for a zoo to provide the “ideal physical space” for an elephant, especially in a state with cold winters.
Zoos also argue they aid in conservation of the highly endangered elephant species, but that is not accurate. No elephant raised in captivity can be safely returned to the wild. Their only hope is going to a sanctuary with enough room to roam and act out natural behaviors. Unfortunately for those of us who love animals and want the thrill of seeing them in the flesh, there is no reason for an elephant to even be on this continent. They belong in the wild.
How You Can Help
Support the Nonhuman Rights Project by donating or volunteering. Repost their information or start a petition to have elephants released from a zoo near you. If they’re being held captive, they’re suffering.
Elephant Advocate 