Will a Dose of Human Kindness Deliver Freedom to This Captive Elephant?
Miss Happy, the lonely elephant, awaits her release into the wild
“ Elephants appear to possess a theory of mind: They seem to understand themselves as individuals, with thoughts that differ from the thoughts of other creatures. They suffer, and they understand suffering.”( Jill Lepore, columnist and Professor, Harvard University)
Loneliness is a social being’s worst punishment, whether it is a human or nonhuman life.
Consider this thought experiment. Ten people are locked away from human contact and condemned to spend the rest of their lives in isolation. Can you guess what would happen to them?
I believe at least half of them would lose their senses. Humans often resorted to extreme steps like suicide while living in total isolation.
Animals are also social creatures, especially the higher apes, dolphins and elephants, which possess high social intelligence.
Humans have no qualms in locking up animals in the name of conservation, with little regard to their mental well being.
A landmark case in animal rights
They captured a female elephant calf named Happy in Thailand in 1970 and shipped her to the United States. After spending a few years in Florida, Happy landed in New York’s Bronx Zoo, where she has lived the past fifty years without the company of fellow elephants.
A unique case about animal rights has landed in the New York Court of Appeals.
Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP)has filed a habeas corpus petition alleging that Happy’s detention is illegal because she is a person under US laws, which recognize corporations and ships as persons. NhRP has demanded Happy should be released into a sanctuary where she can have a social life in the company of other elephants.
Elephants live in herds under the supervision of a matriarch. They are intelligent, sensitive social creatures that care for their young and grieve their dead.
They seem to possess self-awareness just as humans. Happy has a strong case for freedom because she had passed the mirror test for personhood in 2005.
“Elephants share many key traits of autonomy with humans.”( Lucy Bates and Richard Byrne, evolutionary biologists)
The other side of the story
The Bronx Zoo, managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society ( WCS), has treated Happy strictly according to the rules. Whether the authorities ensure the well being of the animals like Happy is another story. The WCS has a good record of working on elephant conservation and preventing elephant poaching.
Final thoughts
Happy’s case has stirred a lot of interest because its outcome will have a lasting impact on the way people view and treat animals.
The irony is, while human defendants can speak their minds, Happy cannot express her preferences. Anyway, she deserves freedom from captivity and has the right to spend the rest of her life in the company of her fellow elephants.
Thanks for reading.
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