This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

UPDATED MAY 29: HAPPY, 55, WAS EUTHANIZED AT THE BRONX ZOO. Please sign to free Patty, the last elephant at the zoo.

The Bronx Zoo has been featured on our list of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants 10 times over the years over concerns about the conditions the elephants are forced to endure there. Happy's plight has been the center of a groundbreaking lawsuit, but she and Patty remain trapped. Urge the Bronx Zoo to send Happy and Patty to sanctuary!

Happy was captured as a calf in Thailand and shipped to the U.S. in the 1970s with six other calves named after the seven dwarves from Snow White. In 1977, she and Grumpy were sent to the Bronx Zoo, which is managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, where she's been ever since.

She's been forced to entertain zoo visitors, give rides, and perform uncomfortable tricks, and now languishes in the ironically named Wild Asia exhibit. Happy was kept isolated from the zoo's two other elephants Patty and Maxine after they attacked Grumpy who was euthanized as a result in 2002. The zoo brought in Sammie to be her companion, but she was euthanized in 2005 after suffering kidney failure.

In 2006, the zoo promised it would close its exhibit if one or more of its elephants died, but has yet to make good on that pledge — even after Maxine died in 2018.

Despite making history as the first elephant to pass the mirror self-recognition test, demonstrating she is self-aware, Happy has been left alone without the companionship of her kind for years.

Now, she and Patty spend their time separated in an enclosure that's just a hair over 1 acre and can never meet their needs. They're also being kept in violation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums guidelines that require three or more elephants to be kept together to improve welfare.

Happy's plight has made national headlines and grown the conversation about captive elephants following a historic lawsuit filed on her behalf by the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) in 2018 ultimately seeking to have her released to a sanctuary.

While the case made it all the way to the New York Court of Appeals the ruling was not in Happy's favor; despite two powerful dissents the court has also denied the NhRP's motion to reargue the case, leaving her trapped at the Bronx Zoo with Patty.

Even though the case has concluded, we can and must still advocate for Happy and Patty. Each of these highly intelligent and social elephants deserves to spend their remaining days at a reputable elephant sanctuary where their needs will be a priority, and they will have the autonomy to make decisions about their own lives, how to spend their time, and who to spend it with.

Letter to Decision Maker(s) for reference:

Subject: Send Happy and Patty to Sanctuary

As someone who is concerned with captive elephant welfare, I’m writing to urge you to send Happy and Patty to a reputable elephant sanctuary.
 
The Bronx Zoo has the shameful distinction of having been featured on In Defense of Animals’ 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants list 10 times over the years over multiple concerns about the conditions the zoo’s elephants are kept in, in addition to being the subject of a groundbreaking lawsuit seeking Happy’s freedom filed by the Nonhuman Rights Project.
 
There is no shortage of reasons to close the Bronx Zoo’s elephant exhibit and none to justify Happy and Patty’s continued exploitation in a minuscule enclosure that can never meet their needs. Research continues to show the detrimental effects of captivity on elephants that range from psychological issues to numerous health issues not found in their wild counterparts.
 
It’s incredibly disappointing that you haven’t made good on a pledge made years ago to close the exhibit following the death of another elephant, and that you continue to violate the Association of Zoos and Aquariums guidelines to house three or more elephants together.
 
Neither Happy nor Patty deserve to spend the rest of their days on display for human entertainment, and should be sent to a reputable sanctuary where their needs are the priority and they can have the autonomy to make decisions about their own lives.
 
I sincerely hope you will finally act in their best interest and send them to a sanctuary, becoming the next zoo to make this progressive choice. In the meantime, I will be supporting legislation in New York City that will mandate this change.

Sincerely,

Signed

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.