“Our world-class experts say that, like all elephants, Happy is an autonomous being who evolved to walk 20 or more miles a day as a member of a multi-generational large social group,†said Nonhuman Rights Project founder Steven Wise. “The entirety of the zoo’s elephant exhibit provides far less than even 1 percent of the space she would roam in a single day in the wild.â€
The group filed its court petition in Orleans County, 280 miles (450 kilometers) away from the zoo in western New York, because judges elsewhere in the state have taken a dim view in past legal proceedings of the idea that animals have legal rights like people.
Zoo officials say Happy appears to be content, is cared for by loving handlers and might suffer from a transfer to an unfamiliar facility.
“The Nonhuman Rights Project is exploiting the Bronx Zoo elephants to advance their own failing cause in the courts as they put forth ludicrous legal arguments and lies about our elephants, facilities and staff,†said Bronx Zoo Director Jim Breheny.