We seek freedom for our client Happy, an Asian elephant torn from her natural habitat and family when she was just a baby and imprisoned since 1977 on a small piece of land in the zoo.
STEVEN WISE: ‘Soon the Bronx County Supreme Court will have the opportunity to consider the rights of a species loved and respected around the world for the extraordinary beings they are: elephants. A landmark case filed by the organization of which I am president, the Nonhuman Rights Project, is headed to Bronx County, home of the Bronx Zoo. We seek freedom for our client Happy, an Asian elephant torn from her natural habitat and family when she was just a baby and imprisoned since 1977 on a small piece of land in the zoo.
The first elephant in the world to demonstrate self-awareness via the mirror self-recognition test, Happy has spent the last 13 years without the company of other elephants, having been forced to move from enclosure to enclosure so zoo visitors can briefly glimpse her from the Wild Asia Monorail… Some of the most respected elephant experts in the world, including Dr. Joyce Poole and Dr. Cynthia Moss, have supported Happy by submitting affidavits in her case. In the words of Poole, “(O)ver millions of years elephants have roamed the earth as intelligent and social mammals, capable of planning, negotiating and engaging in collective decision making.
Active more than 20 hours each day elephants move many miles across landscapes to locate resources to maintain their large bodies, to connect with friends and to search for mates. Elephants have evolved to move. “Holding them captive and confined prevents them from engaging in normal, autonomous behavior and can result in the development of arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteomyelitis, boredom and stereotypical behavior. Held in isolation elephants become bored, depressed, aggressive, catatonic and fail to thrive.”
For captive elephants like Happy who cannot be returned to the wild, the abundant space afforded by sanctuaries allows them to develop healthy social relationships and engage in natural activities. In short, they become able to live like the extraordinarily cognitively complex beings they can be instead of living like prisoners…
If they are to survive and thrive, we must recognize their fundamental rights, protect them in their natural habitats, and reject of models of conservation that depend on depriving individual elephants like Happy of the liberty they crave. Sadly, Happy can’t return to her family in the wild. But she can find peace and dignity in a sanctuary. She is entitled to at least this much for all that has been taken from her’. SOURCE…
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