Three elephants at the Johannesburg Zoo - Lammie, Mopani, and Ramadiba - could be moved to a wild sanctuary if a groundbreaking Pretoria High Court case succeeds.
Three elephants at the Johannesburg Zoo - Lammie, Mopani, and Ramadiba - are at the centre of a groundbreaking constitutional case in the Pretoria High Court. The case, brought by environmental law firm Cullinan & Associates, aims to secure the elephants’ release and transfer to a wild sanctuary, though no court decision has yet been made.
The legal action is being taken on behalf of Animal Law Reform South Africa NPC, a non-profit organisation focused on social justice through legal recognition of the interconnectedness between humans, animals and the environment; the EMS Foundation, a trust dedicated to wildlife policy reform and sanctuary development; and chief Steven Fritz, senior chief of the South Peninsula Khoi Council and advocate for humane animal treatment.
The respondents in the case include Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo NPC, the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, the Gauteng Provincial MEC for Economic Development, Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development, and the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.
