The court rejected a case to send five African elephants to a sanctuary, saying they have no legal right to demand release under habeas corpus

The Colorado high court ruled in favor of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo after an animal rights group alleged the park's elephants were 'unlawfully confined.'

A Colorado court rejected efforts to free five elephants using a legal process for human detainees, writing that it “boils down to whether an elephant is a person.”

Five elephants at a Colorado zoo may be “majestic” but do not have the legal right to pursue their release since they aren't human.

Five elderly African elephants at a Colorado zoo will stay there, after the state's highest court said the animals have no legal right to demand their release because they are not human.

"Because an elephant is not a person, the elephants here do not have standing to bring a habeas corpus claim," the court ruled

History will look upon this ruling as a grave injustice,” animal law professor and director of the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project Justin Marceau said.

The high court rejected arguments that elephants qualify as “persons” under state law and suggested animal advocates turn to the legislative branch to expand legal rights.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. ( KKTV /Gray News) - The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that elephants do not have the same rights as humans. The ruling comes after the Nonhuman Rights Project filed a lawsuit against the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo over the conditions the animals.

A Colorado court has ruled against a bid to free five elephants from a local zoo, determining that elephants do not have the same legal rights as humans. The case, filed by the Nonhuman Rights Project (NRP),