Petition for "personhood" status and elephant relocation from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is denied by judge

The 4th Judicial District in Colorado Springs has dismissed a lawsuit filed by an animal rights group demanding that the five elderly African elephants at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo be relocated to a sanctuary and accused the zoo of illegally confining and neglecting them.

Image Credit: The Denver Gazette

In a ruling that was filed on December 3, El Paso County District Court Judge Eric Bentley stated, "Issues of the kind raised by this case, involving mankind's stewardship of the planet and its living creatures, grow more pressing each year in light of the rapid advance of climate change, habitat loss, and the mass extinction of many species." 

On the opposite side of the situation, tragically this body of evidence sets two associations in opposition to one another that maybe should be on a similar side."

A writ of habeas corpus request documented in June by the Florida-based Nonhuman Freedoms Task guaranteed the zoo's elephants, Jambo, Missy, LouLou, Kimba and Fortunate — all female and brought into the world in the wild somewhere in the range of quite a while back — were damaged and persistently focused on because of their life in imprisonment. 

A habeas corpus request looks for the freedom of an individual unlawfully restricted. The gathering contended that by ideals of their exceptionally evolved insight, elephants fit the legitimate meaning of personhood and accordingly are expected freedoms to "real freedom" and assurance under the law.

In a series of lawsuits that the nonprofit filed in 2022 against zoos in California and New York, similar arguments were unable to sway the courts.

Bentley provided a lengthy explanation of his decision, acknowledging the "profound and far-reaching" implications of legal attempts to blur the line between human-like and human, as well as the complexity of arguments at the intersection of ethics and public policy, science and sensibility.

According to Bentley, "it is without a shadow of a doubt that views, norms, and expectations regarding the treatment of highly intelligent species of animals are rapidly evolving." However, "one portion of the basic entitlements development looks to go past the extension of creature government assistance regulations to perceive the legitimate 'personhood' of certain types of exceptionally savvy creatures in any event."

Bentley found that the nonprofit’s petition didn’t seek justice for Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s elephant herd, under existing laws, so much as to create a legal toehold for an expansion of existing rights — a “sustained nationwide campaign … to establish rights for animals at large.”

Therein lies a societal dreamscape and legal nightmare.

“This case does not concern just ‘five elephants,’ as the NHRP asserts.... It concerns, as the NHRP well knows and intends, an opening of a heretofore-unopened legal door that — were it to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court and be affirmed — would quite likely have the effect of upending much of our legal system, in which humans, for better or worse, exercise dominion and control over the animal world,” Bentley said. “If an elephant today, why not a dog, a pig, a cow, or a chicken tomorrow?”

Bentley also didn’t buy the nonprofit’s assertion that it was the best “next friend” to speak on behalf of zoo’s nonhuman human residents.

“There is a legitimate question in this case as to who properly speaks for the elephants (or, in other words, who gets to be the “elephant Lorax”) — the NHRP, which represents that it wants to improve their lives by moving them to an accredited elephant sanctuary, or the Zoo, which has fed them, nurtured them, and taken care of them for many years,” Bentley said. “It appears to be the Zoo, and not the NHRP, that has the more significant relationship with Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou, and Jambo.”

The Nonhuman Rights Project said it is still “analyzing the decision,” and would announce its next legal steps in the coming weeks.

"Further prosecution won't be essential assuming that the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo decides to do what is ethically correct and just: discharge the elephants to a certify safe-haven, where they can experience their other lives in a climate that can meet their mind boggling needs," said the gathering, in a proclamation posted Tuesday on its site. " By the by, the NhRP is ready to dispute this case to its definitive decision. Jambo, Kimba, LouLou, Fortunate, and Missy are qualified for their opportunity, and they merit nothing less."

Elephants in the wild can satisfy 70 years. According to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, elephants in zoos and preserves live an average of 39.4 years. Malaika, 38, the youngest resident of Cheyenne Mountain's elephantine "Golden Girls" retirement community, was put down earlier this year due to serious health and mobility issues that were getting worse.

54 year-old Missy is quite possibly of the most established African elephant in human consideration.

Zoo president and Chief Sway Chastain said Tuesday that he acclaimed Judge Bentley's choice, however realizes the battle probably isn't finished.

Chastain stated in a statement released by the zoo on Tuesday, "While it is a relief to get over this first hurdle, it is sad to know that we will continue to pay significant legal fees to further defend ourselves after this group has lost so many times and wasted so much of the court's and four different accredited zoos' time." This out-of-state organization earns money by distracting us from our goal of saving endangered animals.