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Colorado Supreme Court considers whether habeas petition can free zoo elephants

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 30, 2024, 2:09 pm CDT

The Colorado Supreme Court considered last week whether five wild-born zoo elephants should be considered “persons” entitled to seek liberty through a habeas corpus petition.

During oral arguments Oct. 24, Colorado justices “seemed highly skeptical” of the argument presented by Jake Davis, a lawyer for the nonprofit Nonhuman Rights Project, according to Colorado Public Radio.

The Associated Press, KOAA News and Colorado Politics also have coverage.

Justice Melissa Hart questioned whether a ruling for the elephants could lead to the emancipation of people’s pets, according to the AP.

“How do I know when it stops?” Hart asked.

Davis argued that the zoo elephants are in a unique position, according to Colorado Politics.

“The dog’s place is your couch,” he said. “Elephants are wild animals. They exist entirely separate and apart from human society.”

The Nonhuman Rights Project filed a June 2023 habeas petition on behalf of elephants Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo, which are on display at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Nonhuman Rights Project wants to send the elephants to a sanctuary where they can roam freely.

“It is time for Colorado common law to evolve to allow the elephants at CMZ to obtain habeas corpus relief from their inherently unjust confinement,” the group said in the petition.

The Nonhuman Rights Project sought freedom for the elephants under Colorado’s common law of habeas corpus, rather than under the state’s habeas statute, which uses the term “person,” according to the group’s description of the case at its website.

Judge Eric Bentley of El Paso County, Colorado, tossed the habeas petition in December 2023 but denied the zoo’s request for attorney fees, saying the habeas petition “represents a good-faith attempt to establish a new theory of law in Colorado.”

Bentley said the elephants lack standing to bring a habeas petition, but even if they had standing, they are not unlawfully confined. He acknowledged that the Nonhuman Rights Project had “made a persuasive case that elephants are entitled to be treated with the dignity befitting their species” but said the proper forum for a remedy is in the legislature.

See also:

A horse is a horse—of course? Oregon Supreme Court denies plaintiff horse case review

Happy the elephant isn’t a person entitled to freedom from detention, top state court rules