Nonhuman Rights Project

Every elephant is an individual.

They each have a unique personality, memories, relationships, preferences, and rich emotional and social lives. They form lifelong bonds, mourn their dead, roam and forage across vast distances, and navigate complex social dynamics.

Yet despite everything we know about elephants—including abundant scientific evidence of their extraordinary minds, emotions, relationships, and needs, they are viewed and treated as rightless “things” under law. They are still captured, confined, separated from their families, and denied the freedom to make choices about their own lives.

Our laws and institutions have failed to catch up with what science and our own understanding of elephants tell us: captivity comes at a profound cost to their physical and psychological health.

This World Elephant Day, we're honoring elephants by recognizing that they are autonomous individuals with a right to live freely and on their own terms.

Every day the NhRP is fighting to secure fundamental legal rights for elephants in courts across the country, and this month, we’re raising awareness about the plight of captive elephants and mobilizing public support and collective action to build a more just future for elephants—a future beyond captivity.

🐘 Join us in taking action today: Urge Tulsa Zoo leadership to release Tina, an elephant who was stolen from the wild and has spent decades in captivity, to an accredited sanctuary.

Tina deserves the chance to live the rest of her life with the freedom, dignity, and autonomy every elephant deserves.

Take action for Tina today: https://bit.ly/3RQJ2bw

Last World Elephant Month our community flooded social media with messages demanding freedom and a more just future for captive elephants. This year, we're expanding how we organize to create an even bigger impact for elephants this August.

Join the NhRP's new WhatsApp Action Network for coordinated actions, campaign updates, and unique opportunities to advocate for elephants all month long.

🐘 Join the herd: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbDClNpJ3juuOAB7ZY25

Last month, we shared news of Justice Elizabeth Welch’s remarkable dissent from the Michigan Supreme Court’s order denying our application for leave to appeal in our case on behalf of the seven chimpanzees confined at the DeYoung Family Zoo.

In light of Justice Welch’s dissent, the NhRP filed a motion for reconsideration asking the Court to revisit its decision not to hear our appeal—to correct what we believe are serious legal errors in the ruling that keep chimpanzees classified as legal "things" in Michigan.

Our motion lays out, in detail, what the Court of Appeals got wrong, and why Justice Welch's dissent gives the Michigan Supreme Court every reason, and every responsibility, to reconsider its decision not to hear our appeal.

Learn more about the importance of dissents, and the historic significance of Justice Welch’s dissent, in our recent blog post written by NhRP Senior Staff Attorney, Jake Davis: https://bit.ly/3U7AI7N

Missed our live webinar on the Pittsburgh elephant case? The full recording is now available.

NhRP Senior Staff Attorney Jake Davis and Director of Campaigns Courtney Fern discuss our newly filed appeal, what recent zoo transfers mean for Angeline, Savanna, Tasha, Victoria, and Zuri, and how you can help.

Please consider making a donation to the NhRP’s World Elephant Month campaign to help power the work ahead: https://nonhumanrightsproject.donorsupport.co/page/ElephantMonth2026?utm_source=20260808_fb_pittsburgh_zoo&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=2026elephantmonth

Right to Liberty: Inside the NhRP's Pittsburgh Elephant Case (Webinar) Join the NhRP for an update on our lawsuit on behalf of Angeline, S...

It's official: Mari and Vaigai's case will be heard by the Hawai'i Supreme Court on November 9th. 📅🐘

This November, the Hawai'i Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in our case on behalf of Mari and Vaigai, two elephants held captive at the Honolulu Zoo after being forcibly taken from the wild and their families in India decades ago.

The hearing will take place at Punahou School as part of the Hawai'i Judiciary's Courts in the Community program—open to the public and livestreamed by the Hawai'i State Judiciary.

The Court will decide whether Mari and Vaigai can invoke Hawai'i's common law writ of habeas corpus. A favorable ruling wouldn't mean immediate freedom for our clients, but it would send the case back to the trial court for a hearing on the legality of their confinement.

“The significance of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court agreeing to hear this case cannot be overstated. The initial question on appeal not only concerns Mari and Vaigai, but all habeas corpus petitioners in the State of Hawai‘i, including humans. The second question, whether Mari and Vaigai can invoke the writ, could be persuasive authority for future cases of this kind.”
– NhRP Senior Staff Attorney, Jake Davis

This hearing is the result of years of legal research, litigation, and advocacy—but most importantly, it’s the result of our incredible community of supporters who believe in a more just future for animals.

Please donate to help us continue this fight for Mari and Vaigai’s freedom, and for every captive elephant still waiting for their day in court.🧡 https://bit.ly/4hk915j

📅 Mark your calendars: This Wednesday, August 5th at 1PM ET, join NhRP Senior Staff Attorney Jake Davis and Director of Campaigns Courtney Fern for a live webinar as we discuss our case on behalf of Angeline, Savanna, Tasha, Victoria, and Zuri—five elephants held captive by the Pittsburgh Zoo.

Jake and Courtney will share what's at stake in the NhRP’s appeal, what the zoo’s recent transfers mean for our clients, and what you can do right now to help secure the elephants’ freedom and release to a sanctuary.

RSVP now to save your spot and submit your questions in advance: https://bit.ly/4gbo3t2

This World Elephant Month, we're honoring the life and legacy of Happy, the elephant whose groundbreaking legal case forever changed the conversation about the rights of captive elephants.

Happy died earlier this year without ever experiencing the freedom she deserved, but her legacy lives on through the growing movement to secure fundamental legal rights for elephants and other nonhuman animals.

Throughout August, we'll take you behind the scenes of this growing movement for justice.

You'll meet the remarkable elephant clients at the heart of our litigation, hear from world-renowned elephant scientists, gain exclusive insights into the legal strategies driving our cases, and discover meaningful ways you, too, can help build a more just future for elephants—a future beyond captivity.

Happy's story didn't end with her death. The movement she helped inspire lives on in every case we file and every elephant whose freedom we continue to fight for today.

Join us this as we honor Happy's legacy and stand with every elephant still waiting for justice. Learn more, subscribe to our email list, and donate help power the fight for elephant freedom: https://bit.ly/451J3MI

We're excited to welcome Jessica Almy as the new Executive Director of the Nonhuman Rights Project! 🎉

Jessica brings decades of leadership experience in animal protection, public policy, and strategic advocacy. Throughout her career, she's worked to advance meaningful, lasting change for animals—and we're thrilled to have her leading the NhRP into its next chapter.

When asked what excites her most about joining the NhRP, Jessica shared:

"For too long, our society has excused atrocities on the basis that nonhumans do not suffer like we do. Any honest assessment of the current evidence exposes the lie. Concrete progress gives me hope. Legal and legislative wins, thoughtful judicial dissents, growing support from the scientific and religious communities, and shifts in public opinion all move us toward the future we want."

As we continue advancing groundbreaking litigation and expanding public understanding of nonhuman animals, we're excited for all that lies ahead under Jessica's leadership.

Please join us in welcoming Jessica to the NhRP! ❤️

Learn more about Jessica here: https://bit.ly/4h3Zhft

Linh Mai was born into captivity at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in February. Her arrival was celebrated as a “conservation success” but her story reveals the profound costs of captive breeding.

Shortly after her birth, Linh Mai was rejected by her mother and survived only through human supervision and around-the-clock bottle feeding by zoo staff.

In the wild, elephant caves are surrounded by a close-knit family herd. They learn from each other and travel together. They make choices about where to go, what to eat, and how to spend their time. These experiences are fundamental to what it means to be an elephant.

Linh Mai will never experience any of that in captivity.

As she grows older, every major aspect of her life will remain under human control. She will be unable to decide where and how she lives, who she spends time with, whether she has calves of her own. Like other zoo-born elephants, she may one day be transferred to another institution to satisfy breeding recommendations.

Even as her life has just begun, her story highlights the failures of captive breeding and the challenges that calves face as a result of being forced to grow up in an unnatural environment.

Linh Mai, like all elephants, deserves so much more than life on display. She deserves to be raised under the protection of a familial herd, under open skies, with space to roam and form meaningful social relationships. She deserves to make choices about her own life.

Linh Mai's future doesn't have to be one of exploitation and suffering. At an elephant sanctuary she can live in an environment that can meet her complex needs—that allows her to exercise her autonomy.

Please, read Linh Mai's story and sign our pledge to end elephant captivity: https://bit.ly/3Ti72ok

Join NhRP Senior Staff Attorney, Jake Davis, and NhRP Director of Campaigns, Courtney Fern, for a live webinar next week about our case for elephant rights in Pennsylvania, and the ongoing fight to secure our clients' (Angeline, Savanna, Tasha, Victoria, and Zuri) right to liberty and release to a sanctuary.

📅 Date: Wednesday, August 5th
⏰ Time: 1:00 PM Eastern Time
📍 Where: Zoom (Registration Required)

This live Zoom webinar comes at a critical moment in our efforts to secure freedom for the five elephants held captive by the Pittsburgh Zoo.

During the webinar Jake and Courtney will break down:
▪️What’s at stake with our newly filed appeal in Pennsylvania
▪️What these recent zoo transfers mean for our clients
▪️Key actions you can take right now to support their freedom and release to a sanctuary

RSVP today: https://bit.ly/4cbJkQW