In June, the Nonhuman Rights Project filed our first habeas corpus lawsuit in Colorado, demanding the right to liberty and release to sanctuary of five elephants held in captivity in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Jambo, Kimba, LouLou, Lucky, and Missy were born in the wild in Africa, taken from their herds when they were babies, and imported to the US in the 1970s and 1980s. In December, a lower court judge found that “as a matter of pure justice, the NhRP has made a persuasive case that elephants are entitled to be treated with the dignity befitting their species; and that that cannot be done, no matter how conscientious those who care for them may be, if they are confined in zoos that lack the substantial acreage needed to allow them to flourish.” However, despite recognizing the injustice inflicted upon these elephants, the judge concluded that habeas corpus is unavailable to remedy this wrong, which is simply incorrect. The NhRP is appealing this decision to Colorado’s highest court.

In November, the Nonhuman Rights Project filed our first habeas corpus lawsuit in Hawaii, demanding the right to liberty and release to sanctuary of two elephants held in captivity in the Honolulu Zoo. Mari and Vaigai were born in the wild in India, taken from their herds when they were young, and imported to the US in 1982 and 1992 respectively. Both were given to the municipally-owned Honolulu Zoo as a gift from the Indian government and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The City and County of Honolulu, Department of Enterprise Services, its Director Dita Holifield, and Honolulu Zoo Director Linda Santos are named as respondents in the lawsuit. The lower court judge ordered oral arguments soon after we filed, giving us close to an hour to make our case, which is atypical at such an early stage of litigation. While the judge asked probing questions and took a philosophical approach to the arguments–an indication of how seriously courts are now taking the issue of nonhuman rights–he ultimately denied the petition. The NhRP is appealing this decision to a Hawaii intermediate appellate court.

On December 7, 2023, the Nonhuman Rights Project filed our first habeas corpus lawsuit in Michigan, demanding the right to liberty of seven chimpanzees held captive in the DeYoung Family Zoo and their release to a chimpanzee sanctuary. The chimpanzees at the roadside zoo previously included Tommy, the NhRP’s client in the first habeas corpus lawsuit brought on behalf of a nonhuman animal in the US and the subject of the 2016 documentary Unlocking the Cage. According to public records, Tommy was moved in 2015 from a cage on a used trailer lot in New York to the DeYoung Family Zoo. The NhRP announced on December 5th that records we’d just received indicated that Tommy died in 2022, “curled up in his sleeping spot” inside a building at the DeYoung Family Zoo. Filed in honor of Tommy, the case is supported by affidavits submitted by experts in chimpanzee behavior and cognition, including Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Tetsuro Matsuzawa, Dr. Christophe Boesch, Dr. Jennifer Fugate, Dr. William McGrew, and Dr. Mary Lee Jensvold. Five days after we filed suit, a lower court judge denied the NhRP’s habeas corpus complaint because she believes chimpanzees are not legal persons under Michigan’s common law of habeas corpus. The NhRP is appealing this decision to a Michigan intermediate appellate court.