The elephant in the courtroom
From elephants in Colorado to owls in Oregon, this was a week of hard choices in species protection.
I know I've been focusing a lot on Colorado in our first few issues, but this week's ruling from our state supreme court deserves attention. It marks another setback for conservation activists pursuing what could be a powerful — albeit very controversial — new way to protect animals.
As courts keep rejecting animal personhood, is there a better way?
On Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court rejected what might seem like an unusual request: that five elephants at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo should be considered "persons" under the law. The court's reasoning was straightforward - Colorado's legal system, like every other U.S. jurisdiction, has never recognized any non-human species as having legal personhood.
But this case is about much more than five elephants in Colorado Springs. It represents the latest chapter in a decades-long effort to fundamentally reshape how our legal system views animals.
The organization behind the case, the Nonhuman Rights Project, has filed similar suits in multiple states, using a legal tool called "habeas corpus" that historically allowed people to challenge unlawful detention. If this sounds familiar, it's because habeas corpus was one of the key legal mechanisms used to challenge human slavery.
Proponents argue animal personhood isn't as radical as it first seems. We already grant legal personhood to corporations, ships — even rivers in some jurisdictions. The question isn't whether elephants should be treated exactly like humans, but whether they possess enough qualities — intelligence, emotional capacity, self-awareness — to deserve certain basic legal protections.
In 2022, New York’s highest court faced a similarly consequential decision and denied legal personhood to Happy, a 51-year-old Asian elephant housed alone at the Bronx Zoo. The Nonhuman Rights Project argued that Happy—one of the first elephants to pass the “mirror test,” a marker of self-awareness—was unlawfully imprisoned in conditions that violated her autonomy.
But the Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the habeas corpus petition, asserting that “nonhuman animals do not have a liberty right” under state law. Justice Janet DiFiore acknowledged Happy’s “remarkable cognitive abilities” but stressed that expanding legal rights required legislative action, not judicial reinterpretation. The case exposed a recurring tension: courts increasingly recognize animals’ sentience yet refuse to grant them legal standing, leaving advocates trapped in a system that acknowledges their suffering but deems it irrelevant.
The Colorado court, just as in New York, suggested this was a matter for legislators, not judges. "Extending personhood to animals is the type of monumental change in the law that one would reasonably expect the [Colorado] General Assembly to make explicit," Justice Maria Berkenkotter wrote. In other words, don’t try to sneak in such a massive change via the courts.
For their part, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo called this saga a waste of resources and time. "While we're happy with this outcome, we are disappointed that it ever came to this," the zoo said in a statement. They argue that while fighting this legal battle, they've continued their core mission - raising over $5 million for frontline conservation efforts, including more than $1 million specifically for African elephants in the wild.
Their elephants - Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo - will remain at the zoo. But the larger questions their case raises aren't going away: How do we build legal frameworks that protect animals while acknowledging their fundamental difference from humans? Can we move beyond seeing animals as either persons or property? And most importantly, how do we ensure their protection in a legal system built by and for humans?
Quick links!
The battle to save spotted owls has taken an unexpected turn, pitting traditional conservation groups against animal rights advocates. Five environmental organizations have joined the federal government to defend a controversial program that would remove invasive barred owls to protect their endangered cousins, the northern spotted owl. While animal rights groups argue the plan violates environmental law and ignores the bigger threat of habitat loss, conservationists like Tom Wheeler of EPIC say the difficult choice is necessary: "We believe individual lives of wild animals are precious, but ecosystems and species are also real and important and worth protecting." The case highlights a growing tension in wildlife protection - when saving one species requires making hard decisions about another.
A rare snowstorm along Florida's Panhandle created an even rarer sight: sea turtles stranded on snow-covered beaches. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers rescued more than 30 "cold-stunned" turtles near Gulf County after water temperatures plunged to 47 degrees Fahrenheit. When waters drop below 50 degrees, sea turtles can become too weak to swim and may appear lifeless - though they're often still alive and can recover with proper care. Rescuers worked quickly to transport the turtles to rehabilitation centers, where they'll stay until water temperatures rise.
Subscriber shots 📷
Send me photos at dan@fuzz.net or tag @fuzzdotnet on Instagram to be featured! I had no reader submissions this past week, so I’m filling in — should have some new images from a subscriber in Costa Rica for next week.
I've been following this mule deer family since spring, when these fawns were just wobbly-legged newcomers to my backyard. Now they're facing their first real test - surviving winter in the Rockies.
Young deer have some remarkable adaptations to help them through these harsh months. Their summer coat is replaced by winter fur that's hollow, providing incredible insulation against the cold (similar to how a thermos works). They also reduce their metabolism by up to 50% and limit their movement to conserve energy - a strategy that helps explain why you'll often see deer browsing in the same spots day after day during winter.
What's particularly fascinating is how fawns prepare for this challenge months in advance. Throughout late summer and fall, they focus on building up fat reserves that can constitute up to 30% of their body weight. (Not surprising — most days, I watched them feast on my newly-planted bushes.) This fat, combined with their ability to extract nutrients from woody plants most animals can't digest, helps them survive when food is scarce.
Have a great weekend! As always, you can reach me at dan@fuzz.net.