Animal rights advocates say an elephant at the Bronx Zoo should have the same rights as humans.
Lawyers who represent the elephant argued in court that "Happy" the elephant is being held illegally at the zoo and should be released.
The supreme court in the Bronx took up the case brought by the Nonhuman Rights Project.
The NRP has tried this tactic before without any success. The group sued over two chimps that were kept in captivity for decades and the court ruled against them. Judges in Connecticut ruled that three elephants couldn't' be considered persons.
Happy, now 47, was captured in Thailand as a calf and has lived in a one-acre enclosure for most of her life.
Read more about the legal fight here.
Image courtesy Getty