The fate of three elephants being kept at the Johannesburg Zoo is under the spotlight before the Pretoria High Court, with animal right groups calling for their relocation.
The fate of the three elephants - Lammie, Mopane, and Ramadiba - is under judicial scrutiny this week before the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, with groups calling for the release of the three from the Johannesburg Zoo.
The application was brought by Animal Law Reform South Africa, the EMS Foundation, and Khoi Chief Stephen Fritz.
This legal action seeks orders declaring the continued confinement of the elephants to be unlawful and unconstitutional, reviewing and setting aside decisions to keep the elephants in captivity, and directing the respondents to facilitate the elephants' transfer to an appropriate rewilding facility.
The respondents are the 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.
