Happy the elephant at Bronx Zoo is not a person, New York’s top court rules

Bronx Zoo elephant “Happy” was not granted freedom from being at the Bronx Zoo by the New York State Court of Appeals in a ruling Tuesday. | Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo

ALBANY, N.Y. — Elephants are not human beings with constitutional rights, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday.

The Nonhuman Rights Project had challenged the Bronx Zoo’s confinement of Happy, a 41-year-old pachyderm. After several of her companions have died, she and Patty — who do not get along — are the only two remaining elephants at the zoo.

The advocacy group had argued that the situation amounted to a cruel confinement.

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