New lawsuit filed on behalf of elephants Victoria and Zuri

“If zoo officials genuinely sought the views of leading elephant conservation experts, they would encounter a position entirely at odds with the narrative they present to an uninformed public.” – NhRP habeas corpus petition on behalf of Victoria and Zuri, December 2025

On October 21st, the NhRP filed a habeas corpus petition on behalf of the five African elephants then confined at the Pittsburgh Zoo: Angeline, Savanna, Tasha, Victoria, and Zuri. Late in the drafting process, we learned the Pittsburgh Zoo intended to transfer sisters Victoria and Zuri to its ironically named International Conservation Center (ICC) in Fairhope, Pennsylvania, where they would be subjected to forced breeding. 

The ICC’s name is a misnomer, and ironic, because the forced breeding of captive elephants is an extremely invasive practice that has no conservation benefit to endangered wild elephant populations. No elephant bred in a US zoo has ever been released into the wild. Instead, captive breeding serves a singular purpose, the production of additional inventory to sustain zoo populations. 

Knowing Victoria and Zuri’s days at the Pittsburgh Zoo were numbered, we filed a second but different petition on October 21st, seeking special and preliminary injunctive relief. In other words, we requested that the sisters not be transferred while the habeas corpus petition was pending. The Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas scheduled a hearing on the secondary petition for November 10th. On that day, we learned for the first time that Victoria and Zuri had been secretly transferred to the ICC on October 27th. The court also denied our request for injunctive relief but gave no reason for its denial. 

We serve our clients as if they were humans seeking legal services. This commitment to unwavering advocacy meant we could not allow Victoria and Zuri’s clandestine transfer to go unchallenged. Accordingly, on December 4th, we filed a second habeas corpus petition on behalf of just Victoria and Zuri. This petition challenges their uniquely cruel confinement at the ICC, and although it parallels the one initially filed against the Pittsburgh Zoo, it is not identical. In this filing, we focus on the realities of captive breeding. 

Several of the elephant cognition and behavior experts who are supporting both lawsuits generously revised their declarations on short notice to address the invasive, insidious, and unnatural realities of captive breeding. They include Dr. Bob Jacobs, Dr. Keith Lindsay, and Dr. Michael Pardo. 

For example, Michael Pardo delves into the realities of artificial insemination. “Specifically, artificial insemination itself requires female elephants to be restrained while a tube is inserted into their reproductive tract. This procedure can last 90 minutes and may be performed up to four times within a 48-hour period. Additionally, artificial insemination has a low success rate in captive elephants, so Victoria and Zuri may be subjected to this invasive procedure through many ovulation cycles.”

Bob Jacobs describes how, “in the wild, female elephants often care for one another’s calves, a behavior known as allomothering. It is possible that the wild-born elephants Savanna and/or Tasha, two of the remaining three elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo, have an allomother bond with Zuri, since Zuri was a juvenile when her biological mother, Moja, was transferred to Oregon. Zuri’s relocation to the ICC would therefore mark the second time in her life that she has been forcibly separated from a mother.” 

Keith Lindsay writes of how breeding elephants in captivity provides no benefit to the conservation of the species. “Many zoos often claim that their keeping of elephants in their display exhibits plays an important role in the conservation of these endangered species. In fact, the primary experts in elephant conservation disagree emphatically.”

We are in the very early stages of our fight for the Pittsburgh Zoo elephants’ freedom, and I want to remind you how grateful the NhRP is for your support every step of the way. As I have often said, our work is not possible without the commitment and compassion of each supporter and donor––some of you are both. As the lead attorney on this case, I look forward to the fight in Pennsylvania because I know I have each one of you with us. I also know you are in this fight for the long haul, just as we are. Leo Tolstoy once said: “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” With both patience and time–and with the law on our side–it is clear to me that together we will create lasting change. 

Click here to urge the CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo to release the elephants to a sanctuary.