Sending a clear message that captive elephants are not there just for human pleasure, environmental law firm Cullinan & Associates has launched a constitutional case in the High Court in Pretoria to free three elephants – Lammie, Mopani and Ramadiba – from the Johannesburg Zoo and relocate them to a wild sanctuary.
The court is set to hear the matter on 19 May.
Lawsuit to free elephants
The firm is representing three applicants: Animal Law Reform South Africa NPC, the EMS Foundation and Steven Fritz, senior chief of the South Peninsula Khoi Council.
The applicants are asking the court to declare the elephants’ continued confinement unlawful and unconstitutional, overturn the decisions to keep them in captivity and order their transfer to an appropriate rewilding facility.
The legal action targets four respondents: Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, the City of Johannesburg , the Gauteng provincial MEC for economic development, agriculture, environment and rural development, and the minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment.
Sarah Kvalsvig, specialist environmental attorney at Cullinan & Associates, emphasised the legal and psychological precedents driving the case.
“South African law is clear that the well-being of elephants must be considered when decisions are made to keep them in captivity.”
In other countries she said that courts have recognised that elephants have the right to live freely and express their natural behaviours in the ecosystems of which they are part.
“Our clients and their experts believe that the physical and psychological needs of these three highly intelligent and deeply social elephants cannot be met in the Johannesburg Zoo,” Kvalsvig said.
Unlawful
This case raises constitutional questions, particularly regarding the interpretation of Section 24 environmental rights as they apply to captive elephant well-being.
The application examines the respondents’ obligations to respect, protect and promote environmental rights by ensuring proper elephant well-being.
Lesai Seema, director at Cullinan & Associates, highlighted the modern scientific and legislative understanding of animal sentience required in state decision-making.
“We now know that elephants are sentient, socially complex beings whose well-being is inseparable from the ecological systems of which they form part.
“Where the state elects to confine such animals, our legislative framework requires a form of decision-making that is rational, evidence-based and responsive to the welfare implications of captivity,” Seema said.
The case also addresses the cultural and living heritage rights of the Khoi peoples, including their spiritual beliefs and holistic approach to nature, protected under the Natural Heritage Resources Act and the constitution.
Furthermore, the matter incorporates expert testimony from prominent specialists in elephant behaviour and welfare. They say that the elephants currently endure conditions adverse to their well-being, causing them ongoing and increasing distress.
