UPDATE: TUESDAY 10/22/2024 4:47 p.m. (COLORADO) — The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (CMZoo) has released a statement in response to the upcoming court case involving the five elephants at the zoo. According to CMZoo, the "Non-Human Rights Project" (NhRP) aims to set a legal precedent by granting habeas corpus to animals, targeting CMZoo's elephants in this case. "As our community already knows, at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, we take excellent care of our beloved elephants," said Rachel Wright, the Public Relations and Social Media Manager for CMZoo. "The NhRP’s case is not about our elephant care. Their goal is to establish a court precedent granting habeas corpus to any animal. Our elephants are just the next target on their list of failed attempts at setting this precedent." Courtesy: Cheyenne Mountain ZooCourtesy: Cheyenne Mountain ZooCourtesy: Cheyenne Mountain ZooCourtesy: Cheyenne Mountain ZooCourtesy: Cheyenne Mountain ZooCourtesy: Cheyenne Mountain ZooCourtesy: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo CMZoo said that moving the elephants to a sanctuary, as NhRP suggests, would not remove them from human care but could cause extreme stress due to relocation, introduction to unfamiliar elephants, and age-related ailments. CMZoo believes the elephants are better off where they are, and the lawsuit disregards their well-being. "Our elephant care team knows the needs of our elephants, and tailors specific health and exercise programs based on each elephant’s needs and preferences," said Wright. "Suggesting they’d be better off at a sanctuary is simply incorrect. Popular opinions about what’s considered best for elephants in general or in the wild are not what’s best for Jambo, Missy, LouLou, Kimba, or Lucky." CMZoo pointed out that, though elephants are social animals, the zoo's elephants have lived their entire lives in smaller groups and don't have the skills or desire to be in a larger herd. CMZoo has tried in the past to give them options to integrate into a variety of group settings, without forcing them, and they have shown no desire to do so. The zoo’s legal team plans to argue that habeas corpus, a legal protection allowing individuals to claim for themselves, applies only to humans. When a person is unable to assert their own writ of habeas corpus, a "next friend" can do it for them. The El Paso County District Court reasoned that if granted habeas corpus, NhRP would not have been the elephants’ “next friend,” as required by law, but rather CMZoo would be. "Our community has been surprised that NhRP chose to attack Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, of all places," said Wright. "Our national recognition as a leader in animal care and conservation is likely what drew their attention to us. Our latest accreditation was historic. In nearly 50 years of AZA accreditations, CMZoo was only the fourth organization to earn a ‘clean’ report, which means there wasn’t a single major or minor concern reported – including in the strenuous review of our elephant care program." The zoo has a longstanding reputation for animal welfare, raising over $5 million for conservation, and hopes this case will be dismissed like similar ones in other states. "We’re grateful for our community’s unwavering support throughout the past 16 months of this, and we are hopeful that we can soon put this waste of resources to rest," said Wright. ORIGINAL STORY: CMZoo elephant case heads to Colorado Supreme Court TUESDAY 10/22/2024 11:58 a.m. A case involving five elephants at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (CMZoo) will be heard at the Colorado Supreme Court on Thursday, Oct. 24. The case is a first of its kind in Colorado. The "Non-Human Rights Project" argues the elephants at CMZoo are exhibiting troubling behaviors caused by chronic stress and trauma and want the elephants released from the zoo to an elephant sanctuary. An El Paso County judge dismissed the lawsuit after it had been brought up by the group in June. CMZoo called the group an "out-of-state extreme animal rights organization."