In Support of a Law to Protect Elephants in New York City

The New York City Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee has issued a report in support of a local law that would establish strict requirements for keeping elephants in New York City.

The proposed legislation – Int. No. 0213-2024, sponsored by Council Member Shahana Hanif – follows the groundbreaking city ordinance passed in 2023 in Ojai, California, which added protections and established rights to bodily liberty for elephants held in captivity, stemming “from the findings of animal researchers who have found elephants to be similarly situated to humans, as they have long-term memories, learning abilities, empathy and self-awareness.”

Since 1991, 36 North American zoos have closed their elephant exhibits—including those in major cities such as Detroit, San Francisco, Toronto, Buffalo, Sacramento and Nashville—and several others have announced plans to close or phase out their elephant exhibits.

With the Central Park and Prospect Park Zoos having closed their elephant exhibits in the 1980s, the Bronx Zoo is the only remaining zoo in New York City that keeps elephants: two female elephants, Happy and Patty, who live apart, apparently each on one acre. Patty has lived alone since 2018, and Happy has been by herself since 2006. Since 2016, years of litigation in New York ensued, brought by the Non-human Rights Project, a non-profit organization, on behalf of certain animals, including Happy, in an effort to establish their legal personhood and right to bodily liberty. In 2022, the New York Court of Appeals decided against personhood for Happy and found that habeas relief was not available to non-human animals; however, two justices dissented from the majority opinion. (The Bronx Zoo announced in early 2006 that it will not replace the elephants at the zoo when any died and then will close its elephant exhibit.)

The City Bar’s report notes how elephants’ natural environment vastly differs from captivity, and that the limitations and conditions of captivity damage the physical and behavioral health of elephants in zoos and cause chronic stress that results in neurological/brain damage to the elephants.

The proposed bill establishes the proper handling of elephants in accordance with existing animal handling standards for excellence advocated by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (the “GFAS”) — the only globally-recognized organization providing standards to identify legitimate animal sanctuaries.

Among the conditions the bill requires are:

• The total usable area of the elephant’s habitat must be a minimum of 15 acres per elephant;
• The elephant must have continuous access to topographic features and stimuli necessary for emotional and physical wellbeing throughout the habitat;
• The elephant must be able to forage for food and water throughout the habitat;
• Female elephants must be housed in groups and allowed to form herds and social groupings unless a female elephant has a contagious disease that necessitates separation from other elephants;
• Male elephants must be housed either in herds, or if solitary, in close proximity to other elephants where they can engage in olfactory, visual, and vocal communication.

The proposed legislation provides for civil penalties of $1,000 per day.

“We commend the New York City Council sponsors of the proposed local legislation Int. No. 0213-2024, which enacts strict requirements for keeping, restraining or possessing elephants in the city of New York,” said Rebecca Seltzer and Robyn Hederman, Co-Chairs of the New York City Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee. “New York City is at the nation’s forefront in finance, commerce, culture and the arts; likewise, our city should also be a leader and advocate for establishing best practices in animal welfare. Passage of this legislation will ensure that it does so.”

Read the report here: https://bit.ly/46Mqwnm

About the Association

The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has 23,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. www.nycbar.org

 About the Animal Law Committee

The Animal Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association is the nation’s first bar association animal law committee and regularly addresses legal, regulatory and policy issues on local, state, national and international levels affecting non-human animals, both wild and domestic.