Cheyenne Mountain Zoo elephant case heads to Colorado Supreme Court
A case involving five elephants at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will be heard at the Colorado Supreme Court on Thursday.
COLORADO (KXRM) — A case involving five elephants at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will be heard at the Colorado Supreme Court on Thursday.
The case is the first of its kind in Colorado. The Nonhuman Rights Project argues the elephants at CMZoo are exhibiting troubling behaviors caused by chronic stress and trauma and they want the elephants released from the zoo to an elephant sanctuary.
“Since their first few years in this world, these elephants have known very little beyond the terror of being kidnapped from their matriarchal herds and a life relegated to one behind bars for human entertainment and amusement,” said attorney Jake Davis in a Facebook video. He will represent the Nonhuman Rights Project before the Colorado Supreme Court.
CMZoo called the group an "out-of-state extreme animal rights organization" and continues to argue that it takes “excellent care” of the five elephants: Jambo, Missy, LouLou, Kimba and Lucky.
“Suggesting they’d be better off at a sanctuary is simply incorrect,” the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo said. “Popular opinions about what’s considered best for elephants in general are not what’s best for Jambo, Missy, LouLou, Kimba or Lucky.”
The zoo went on to explain it is accredited by the Associations of Zoos and Aquariums and noted that recent legislation that banned elephants from traveling circuses expressly permitted elephants to be sheltered in accredited zoos.
An El Paso County judge initially dismissed the lawsuit after it had been brought up by the group in June.
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