The Elephant Lorax

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  Then quit.  There's no point in being a damn fool about it."

- W.C. Fields

I wish that the Non-Human Rights Project would heed the advise.  After years of unsuccessfully (but irritatingly) harassing the Bronx Zoo to "release" the Asian elephant Happy after declaring her to be a person, the group recently switched their efforts over to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, trying to wrest away that facility's African elephants.   On Sunday, the NHRP was handed yet another defeat, with the judge siding with the zoo.  Worth noting, from his opinion:

"There is a legitimate question in this case as to who properly speaks for the elephants (or, in other words, who gets to be the 'elephant Lorax') - the NHRP... or the Zoo, which has fed them, nurtured them, and taken care of them for many years.  It appears to be the Zoo, and not the NHRP, that has the more significant relationship with Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou, and Jambo."

We'd all be fools to think this is over.  Either at Cheyenne Mountain or at another zoo, it's likely that this organization will again try to argue that keeping elephants in zoos is illegal and unethical.  Every victory, however, helps build precedent, the foundation of the law, and helps strengthen the case of zoos to serve as the guardians for these giant animals.

A Message from Bob Chastain, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo President & CEO