Bronx Zoo elephant Happy appears in exhibit after months of speculation

Happy, a female Asian elephant in her early 50s kept at New York’s Bronx Zoo since 1977, had not been seen in her exhibit for months, leading to allegations from activists. On Thursday, Bronx Zoo officials posted video footage of Happy in the exhibit.

Speculation had been brewing for months about Happy’s no-show, prompting the Wildlife Conservation Society that operates the facility to put out a statement on July 31 saying, “Nothing is wrong with Happy” and “Happy has been choosing to not go out into the area visible from the monorail.”

Zoo officials say Happy has been spending time in other areas with caretakers for contact and treats — and wanders into the exhibit outside visiting hours.

“Happy has recently opted not to be in the exhibit during the day, but she has gone into that area in the morning before the zoo opens. Happy is choosing to spend her time near the barn interacting with staff,” zoo officials said earlier this month, according to The New York Times.

On Thursday afternoon, Bronx Zoo Director Jim Breheny posted video footage of Happy on X, showing the elephant bathing itself with dust in her exhibit Wednesday morning.

Happy, one of our Asian elephants ⁦@BronxZoo⁩, out in the exhibit yesterday morning taking a dust bath & eating browse pic.twitter.com/132EQuSToC

— Jim Breheny (@JimBreheny) September 12, 2024

The Nonhuman Rights Project, which previously tried and failed to have Happy declared a legal person entitled to habeas corpus rights, claimed in a Facebook post on Sunday that Happy had lost the will to live.

In August following a complaint by the NRP, the Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service inspected the elephant habitat and found that “no noncompliant items [were] identified during this inspection.”

That indicates that “the zoo was meeting or exceeding USDA standards for care. Our veterinary and animal care teams have stated Happy appears fine and is doing well. … She is given access to the exhibit area each day but not choosing to spend her time there.  Despite some reports, she is not confined indoors but has access to indoor and outdoor spaces and she chooses where she wants to be,” the WCS said in a statement.

On Sunday, NRP wrote in its post that it had been two months since it or other advocates had seen Happy in the zoo’s exhibit yard. The group also contended that the zoo’s elephant barn, “with its barred and chain-lined cages, looks more like a prison than a barn.”

Happy had been seen in a dirt pen next to the barn, the NRP said, adding that in past years Happy appeared in the main area of the elephant exhibit on alternating days with Patty, another female Asian elephant in her 50s kept at the zoo, who doesn’t get along with Happy. The elephants are on public display from May through October.