A state Supreme Court has ruled that the only way a group of struggling elephants locked up in a zoo can be legally released is if they become human.
The animal rights group Nonhuman Rights Project filed the petition with the Colorado Supreme Court on behalf of the five African elephants, asking that they be allowed to leave the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.
The Colorado Supreme Court said that while animals may be “majestic,” they have no right to bring a habeas corpus claim because they are not “persons.”
The pack, named Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo, were said to have shown signs of brain damage inside the “prison” zoo, according to the group.
They wanted the animals to be released into one of two accredited sanctuaries in the United States, because the group does not believe they can no longer live in the wild.
In a 21-page opinion, the court said the state’s habeas corpus statute, which grants relief to civil detainees, only applies to humans and not other creatures.
Because Colorado’s habeas corpus statute does not define the term “person,” the advocacy group attempted to use the ambiguity to argue that it can include elephants.
However, the court rejected this argument, “no matter how cognitively, psychologically, or socially sophisticated they may be.”
This undated photo provided by the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo shows elephants Kimba, front, and Lucky, back, at the Colorado Springs Zoo.

The animal rights group Nonhuman Rights Project had brought the case arguing that the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs was a prison.
Judge Maria Berkenkotter wrote, “because an elephant is not a person, elephants here have no standing to bring a habeas corpus claim.”
The zoo had argued that moving the elephants and placing them with new animals could be cruel to their age and cause stress.
He said they are not used to being in larger herds and, based on staff observations, the elephants do not have the skills or desire to join one.
They also responded to the group’s accusations that the elephants were not being cared for properly.
After the court ruling was handed down, the zoo said they were disappointed that there had to be a legal fight over the issue.
They accused the Nonhuman Rights Project of “abusing the court systems” to aid their fundraising efforts.
In a statement they said: ‘It appears that his real goal is to manipulate people into donating to his cause by incessantly publishing sensational court cases with relentless appeals to his supporters to donate.’
The Nonhuman Rights Project said the latest ruling “perpetuates a clear injustice” and predicted that future courts would reject the idea that only humans have a right to liberty.
In a statement, they said: ‘As with other social justice movements, early losses are expected as we challenge an entrenched status quo that has allowed Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo to be relegated to a life of physical suffering. and mental. .’

The zoo had argued that moving the elephants and placing them with new animals could be cruel to their age, causing them stress.
The group had originally filed a petition with the El Paso County District Court, which also dismissed the petition.
They noted that no court had extended habeas corpus rights to animals and that elephants lacked standing.
Berkenkotter echoed this, adding: “Simply put, no court in Colorado, nor any other court in any other jurisdiction in the United States, has ever recognized the legal ‘personhood’ of any non-human species.
“Habeas protections arise from the status of a person, not from a being’s ability to pass some type of autonomous capacity test.”
Justin Marceau, professor of animal law and director of the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, said Court news It was an “injustice.”
Marceau said: ‘By upholding a ruling that all non-human animals are categorically excluded from habeas corpus, the court has arbitrarily prohibited them from exercising their rights to be free from unlawful captivity, simply for being who they are. History will regard this sentence as a grave injustice.’