Elephants are not people, the Colorado Supreme Court rules

It ruled 6-0 in favor of an earlier district court decision that said the state’s habeas corpus process “applies only to people, and not to non-human animals.”

This is true “no matter how cognitively, psychologically, or socially sophisticated they are,” added Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter in her ruling., In addition.

While he said the five aging African elephants were “magnificent,” the court ruled the claim could not be brought “because elephants are not people.”

The Nonhuman Rights Project (NRP) petitioned for the elephants to be moved from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to a “suitable elephant sanctuary” in 2023.

The group argues that animals have the right to freedom because they are complex and emotionally intelligent animals.

It said the elephants were showing signs of “trauma, brain damage, and chronic stress” and that they were effectively “imprisoned” in the zoo.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo denied the claims, saying the elephants received exceptional care, and was supported by the district court.

After the Supreme Court’s decision, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo called the NRP’s lawsuit “frivolous” and said it was “wasting” time and money in the case.

It accused the group of “misusing the court system to raise funds” and said its aim was “to manipulate people into donating to their cause by relentlessly publishing sensational court cases with relentless calls for supporters to donate”.

The NRP said that the decision “perpetuate(d) a clear injustice, saying that unless people are human they do not have the right to liberty”.

“Like any other social justice movement, early losses are expected as we challenge the status quo that has allowed Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou, and Jambo to be relegated to a lifetime of mental and physical suffering,” the group said in a statement., In addition

An earlier bid by the NRP to free an elephant named Happy from New York’s Bronx Zoo was rejected after a court ruled that he was not a legal person.