5 Elephants CANNOT Sue to Leave Zoo, Colorado Court Rules

Nonhuman Rights Project hoped to take elderly elephants Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo out of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and place them into a sanctuary. However, the animals aren't able to represent or advocate for themselves in a court of law.
"It bears noting that the narrow legal question before this court does not turn on our regard for these majestic animals generally or these five elephants specifically," Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter wrote in her ruling.
However, she noted the decision was "because an elephant is not a person, the elephants here do not have standing to bring a habeas corpus claim."

Christopher Berry, who is the executive director of the Nonhuman Rights Project, discussed the case's outcome.
"Regardless of today's result, support for recognizing legal rights for animals continues to grow," Berry said in an email.
"As we've seen in other movements, early losses are to be expected," Berry noted. "While courts are often influenced by decisions in other states, every state has its own independent body of law."

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo celebrated the announcement in a statement.
"As we had hoped, all six participating Colorado Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled in our favor. In June 2023, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP/NRP) filed a frivolous lawsuit aiming to remove the Zoo's five aging African elephants from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo," the organization exclaimed. "The lawsuit was dismissed, and NhRP appealed that decision by taking it to the Supreme Court in June 2024."

"While we're happy with this outcome, we are disappointed that it ever came to the statement read. "For the past 19 months, we've been subjected to their misrepresented attacks, and we've wasted valuable time and money responding to them in courts and in the court of public opinion."

According to the reserve, the animal rights group has a history of litigious behavior.
"NhRP has attempted this same lawsuit with several other reputable zoos. NhRP lost their case in New York," Cheyenne Mountain Zoo stated. "They lost in California. They were dismissed in Colorado Springs and Hawaii. Now they have officially lost in Colorado. If they continue this route — with us or with other reputable zoos – we hope people will remember that NhRP is abusing court systems to fundraise and to pay for 'legal fees,' as they claimed in a recent social media video — a.k.a. their salaries."
"The courts have proven now five times that their approach isn't reasonable, but they continue to take it," they added. "It seems their real goal is to manipulate people into donating to their cause by incessantly publicizing sensational court cases with relentless calls for supporters to donate."