In 2022, the Bronx Zoo became the center of a landmark animal rights case when advocates with the Nonhuman Rights Project sought to have Happy the elephant legally recognized as a person with the right to bodily autonomy, highlighting her years of isolation and inadequate space and care. Although the New York Court of Appeals ultimately ruled that habeas corpus applies only to humans, the case drew global attention and galvanized public support, bringing unprecedented scrutiny to the zoo’s treatment of its elephants.
What many people don’t realize, however, is that the Bronx Zoo is also home to another elephant—one whose life has been just as tragic, and whose suffering is far less known.
Patty is a 54-year-old Asian elephant who was stolen from the wild in India at just three years old and sold to the Bronx Zoo for $6,000. In her five decades of imprisonment, she has endured profound grief and now years of solitude. Her only calf, Astor, was born in 1981 and died from elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus before his second birthday. In 2018, her longtime companion Maxine succumbed to cancer, leaving Patty almost entirely alone.
Although Patty and Happy share the same small outdoor enclosure—roughly the size of a modest suburban backyard and situated just steps from a busy highway—they are never allowed outdoors together. They are only ever near each other inside the elephant barn, where they can see and smell one another, and occasionally touch trunks through the bars.
This isolation is especially devastating because elephants are among the most social beings on the planet. In the wild, female elephants live in close-knit family herds, forming lifelong bonds, raising calves together, and relying on constant companionship for their emotional well-being. Depriving an elephant of social contact isn’t just unnatural—it causes profound psychological harm. Research shows that captivity can lead to trauma-induced neurological damage, resulting in chronic stress, depression, aggression, and repetitive behaviors known as zoochosis.
In 2002, these pressures culminated in a tragic incident in which Grumpy was fatally injured during a conflict with Patty and her companion Maxine. Experts recognized the event as a devastating outcome of the extreme stress and deprivation the elephants were living under. The incident remains a stark reminder of the psychological toll captivity takes on elephants like Patty.
Today both Patty and Happy live alone, taking turns in the same small yard where they are constantly gawked at by visitors passing by on a slow-moving monorail.
Although Patty is 54 years old, she could still have many meaningful years of freedom ahead of her at a qualified elephant sanctuary. Sanctuaries have shown again and again that elephants who endured decades of isolation, trauma, and neurological damage in captivity can heal when given the space, autonomy, and companionship they were denied.
Patty deserves that chance. So does Happy.
Take Action Now
Please join Species Unite in urging the Bronx Zoo to release both Patty and Happy to sanctuary, and help ensure Patty’s name—and her suffering—are no longer forgotten.
Elephants are among the most intelligent, emotionally complex animals on Earth. They deserve compassion, care, and most importantly, freedom.
Add your name to oppose Patty’s cruel captivity now.
