Elephants are some of the most emotionally complex, family-oriented animals on Earth. In the wild, they live in large matriarchal herds where mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, and cousins remain closely tied for their entire lives—communicating, playing, roaming for miles on end, sharing comfort during times of loss, and maintaining deep connection throughout their days. They often spend decades together due to their impressive longevity.

Angeline, Savanna, Tasha, Victoria, and Zuri are a group of five African elephants who have lived as a bonded herd in the worst of circumstances. Confined and exploited at the Pittsburgh Zoo, these elephants have been used as money-making tourist attractions, kept in line with cruel bullhooks, and treated as little more than potential breeding machines to further the confinement of their species.

Now, this family has been ripped apart. Sisters Victoria and Zuri, both born at the Pittsburgh Zoo, have been taken from the only herd they have ever known and sent hours away to the zoo’s breeding center, where they are condemned to repeat the trauma of their own beginnings and forced to give birth to future generations who will endure lifetimes of loss and abuse in captivity. These two elephants had already suffered the pain of separation once before, when their mother was transferred away while Victoria was just 15 and Zuri only 6.

The transfer of these two herdmates will also leave a lasting hole for the elephants forced to remain behind. Angeline was born the same year as Zuri, and the two have grown up together since they were babies, playing, learning, and forming a lifelong bond. That bond has now been shattered.

All of this is done to keep elephants in captivity. To keep elephants on display. The babies these elephants are forced to carry will spend their entire lives in cages.

Captive elephant breeding is extremely dangerous and often fatal. Majestic mother elephants are repeatedly impregnated, typically through artificial insemination, only to suffer the loss of babies through stillbirth, early death, or forced separation later on, after deep bonds have already formed.

The Pittsburgh Zoo is notorious for mistreating elephants in its breeding program. In the 2012 documentary Elefamilia, mother elephants were filmed chained during labor while their newborn calves were forcibly dragged away as the mothers desperately tried to care for them. Zoo staff featured in the film appeared so desensitized to the cruelty that they celebrated one of these abusive births with a champagne toast inside the elephant barn.

This is why the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) has taken a critical legal stand for Angeline, Savanna, Tasha, Victoria, and Zuri.

The organization has filed a habeas corpus petition on their behalf, demanding their right to liberty. In a historic move, Judge Mary C. McGinley issued Pennsylvania’s first-ever habeas corpus order for a nonhuman animal, allowing the case to move forward. The next step will be a hearing on the Pittsburgh Zoo’s motion to dismiss.

The fact that a habeas corpus petition has advanced on behalf of nonhuman animals is a major victory in itself. If the case continues, the Pittsburgh Zoo will be required to justify the continued confinement of these elephants in court, something it has failed to do ethically for decades.

The Pittsburgh Zoo has repeatedly been named on In Defense of Animals’ annual “Worst Zoos for Elephants” list. The facility lacks the space, care, and conditions necessary to support the long-term physical and psychological well-being of elephants. These animals have spent far too much of their lives in a tiny outdoor enclosure or locked indoors in small, cramped cells during Pittsburgh’s long winters. They deserve space, freedom, and the right to remain together without the threat of separation.

Species Unite will be sharing more on this story in our upcoming documentary film, A Case for Freedom, which explores the ongoing captivity of elephants in the United States and the groundbreaking work of the Nonhuman Rights Project. The film also offers a powerful contrast of hope from South America, where elephants from across the continent are already being freed from captivity and relocated to an extraordinary sanctuary.

Take Action Now

Please join us in supporting the Nonhuman Rights Project by speaking out and demanding freedom and reunification for Angeline, Savanna, Tasha, Victoria, and Zuri. No more elephants should be born just to die behind bars.