Original artwork description:

Happy is an elephant who was born in the wild in 1971. She was "captured as a baby, probably from Thailand, in the early 1970s, along with six other calves, possibly from the same herd,” according to The New York Times. She was imported to the US and sold for $800. In 1977, Happy and Grumpy, two of the six captive elephant babies, were sent to the Bronx Zoo. In 2002, the Bronx Zoo euthanized Grumpy after she was attacked by two other elephants held in captivity there. The zoo separated Happy from the other elephants and introduced her to a younger female Asian elephant named Sammie to be her companion.

In 2005, the Bronx Zoo euthanized Sammie after she suffered kidney failure. According the the Nonhuman Rights Project, "From 2006 to the present, to protect Happy from the other elephants and with assurances from zoo director Jim Breheny that Happy is sufficiently happy where she is, “The Bronx Zoo’s Loneliest Elephant” has lived alone, without a true elephant companion, in a rotating portion of the 1.15-acre exhibit. According to The New York Post, “Happy spends most of her time indoors in a large holding facility lined with elephant cages, which are about twice the length of the animals’ bodies. The public never sees this.” In January of 2019, In Defense of Animals announced that the Bronx Zoo was #1 on its 2018 list of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants in the World for continuing to refuse to allow Happy and Patty to go to an elephant sanctuary."

This December the NhRP is bringing Happy's case before New York’s highest state court, arguing that the Bronx Zoo should release the 50-year-old Asian elephant from captivity. The NhRP argues that Happy has a right to legal personhood, bodily liberty, and freedom from imprisonment. Elephants have the largest brain of any land animal and three times as many neurons as humans. While many of these neurons exist to control the elephant's massive body, these creatures have demonstrated impressive mental capabilities over and over again. In 2005, Happy became the first elephant to “pass” the mirror self-recognition test, considered to be an indicator of self-awareness. Surely these creatures deserve better than to be locked in a cage with no social interaction. I hope Happy wins her case and that her case changes the trajectory of animal rights forever.

Materials used:

Akua Ink, Rives BFK Paper

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