Happy the elephant is not a person, New York court rules

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A New York court ruled that Happy the elephant is not a legal person in the US.

The animal rights group's argument that Happy was being illegally confined at the zoo was rejected by the state's highest court.

The court said that elephants aren't entitled to the same rights as humans.

Happy was wanted to move to an elephant sanctuary.

There was a dispute about whether the legal principle of habeas corpus should be extended to emotionally complex and intelligent animals.

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore wrote on behalf of the majority that no one disputes the impressive capabilities of elephants.

Habeas is a procedural vehicle intended to secure the liberty rights of human beings who are restrained.

Lower courts had taken the side of the Bronx Zoo multiple times in the case brought by the Nonhuman Rights Project.

The group wanted the elephant to be removed from the Bronx Zoo.

Happy and the other elephants at the zoo are well cared for, according to the WildlifeConservation Society. Immediately after the ruling, it did not reply to a request for comment.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Nonhuman Rights Project celebrated the decision's dissenting opinions, calling them "powerful" and saying it would use them in another elephant rights case.

Happy's captivity is inherently unjust and inhumane according to Judge Jenny Rivera. She is a spectacle for humans and every day she remains a captive we are diminished.

Happy was captured and brought to the US when she was about a year old. She has resided at the Bronx Zoo for over thirty years.

The zoo says it will end its captive elephant programme eventually.