Elephants allowed to remain at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo following Colorado Supreme Court ruling Elephants allowed to remain at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo following Colorado Supreme Court ruling 01:31
Colorado’s highest court has ruled in favor of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo after it was sued by an animal rights group over the alleged treatment of elephants at the Colorado Springs facility.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the elephants couldn’t be released because the law cited in the lawsuit only applies to humans. The Nonhuman Rights Project filed the suit in May of last year in Colorado Springs and said that the animals were being held against their will in a way that was causing them stress, physical issues, and brain damage.
The group argued that in the wild, elephants have a range of up to several thousand miles, while at the zoo, they can only move about 100 yards in any direction.
An elephant paces in an outdoor enclosure at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Molly Condit
An attorney for the zoo told CBS News Colorado that it takes care of the elephants and meets their needs.
The lawsuit cited habeas corpus, a provision of the U.S. Constitution that lays out requirements for the detention and jailing of people and offers remedies for getting people released from custody. The Colorado Supreme Court, in its decision, said that habeas corpus can’t be cited to release animals from zoos and that the lower court’s ruling will hold.
The justices ruled 6-0 with one justice not voting.