Happy has lived alone for 13 years in her enclosure. This despite the species being highly social and Happy having become as the first elephant to show self-recognition.
KRISTINA NARIZHNAYA: ‘Free Happy the elephant! That was the cry from about 100 animal rights activist who turned up at the Bronx Zoo Saturday to demand the release of the zoo’s beloved but isolated pachyderm. Chanting “Happy is not happy!” and “No excuse for animal abuse!” the crowd gathered to show support for an ongoing lawsuit demanding the transfer of the 47-year-old female to a wildlife preserve.
“It’s inappropriate to keep animals like this,” said Kevin Schneider, who heads the Nonhuman Rights Project, which sued the zoo last year after discovering that Happy had lived alone and had no contact with the zoo’s two other female elephants, Patty and Maxine…
This despite the species being highly social and Happy having become a research star as the first elephant to show self-recognition. “Happy has lived alone for 13 years in her enclosure. It’s wrong to treat a cognitive complex being as a thing,” said Schneider. “We want to send a message to the zoo and the courts that this is an issue they should take seriously”.’ SOURCE…
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