Civil Rights Group: California Court Still Has Say in Billy and Tina Elephant Rights Case

May 30, 2025—Los Angeles, CA—The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) has filed a motion to submit a supplemental petition in its ongoing habeas corpus case on behalf of elephants Billy and Tina, now in captivity in the Tulsa Zoo. The Los Angeles Zoo announced the elephants’ transfer to Tulsa on May 21—just one day after the Los Angeles Superior Court accepted the NhRP’s habeas petition, which seeks recognition of the elephants’ right to liberty and their release to an accredited sanctuary.

The NhRP’s supplemental petition argues that even though the elephants are no longer physically present in the state, the Los Angeles Superior Court retains jurisdiction over the case because Billy and Tina remain in the “constructive custody” of L.A. Zoo Director Denise Verret and the City of L.A. 

“We are pushing forward to ensure Billy and Tina’s case receives meaningful consideration by the justice system,” said Christopher Berry, Executive Director of the NhRP. “Their captivity remains unjust. They deserve life at a sanctuary where they can exercise their autonomy in a natural environment, and where Billy in particular will not be subjected to invasive semen collection efforts.”

On May 8, Denise Verret told the L.A. City Council that the elephants’ move to Tulsa “was not imminent.” L.A. City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield has condemned the zoo’s lack of transparency.

Habeas corpus is a legal principle that protects against unlawful imprisonment. Common law is used to decide cases that turn on general legal principles—such as liberty and equality—as opposed to those that require interpretation of statutes, constitutions, or treaties. The NhRP’s habeas petition is supported by declarations from eight scientific experts on elephant cognition and behavior who detail the autonomy of elephants and make clear that the only just outcome for Billy and Tina is a sanctuary. 

If the L.A. Superior Court grants the NhRP’s requested habeas corpus order and resulting habeas hearing, it would be the second such order issued by a court on behalf of an elephant. On Nov. 16, 2018 in New York, Orleans County Supreme Court Justice Tracey A. Bannister issued the world’s first such order on behalf of Happy, whose case reached the New York Court of Appeals in 2022 and garnered two breakthrough dissenting opinions from Judge Jenny Rivera and Judge Rowan Wilson (now the Chief Judge) in favor of recognizing the availability of habeas corpus to certain nonhuman animals.

“We should recognize Happy’s right to petition for her liberty not just because she is a wild animal who is not meant to be caged and displayed, but because the rights we confer on others define who we are as a society,” Judge Wilson wrote. “When the majority answers, ‘No, animals cannot have rights,’ I worry for that animal, but I worry even more greatly about how that answer denies and denigrates the human capacity for understanding, empathy and compassion.”

• Download the NhRP’s proposed supplemental petition, the NhRP’s habeas corpus petition, and the expert declarations submitted in support of this case.
• Visit the elephants’ client page including the elephants’ biographies and information about the exhibit.
• Access the NhRP’s Media Kit for this lawsuit, including lawsuit basics, elephant biographies, and photos and videos of the elephants for use in media coverage.
• Case No. 25CJHC00060-01