Happy is one of the stars at The BronxA district of New York City. Zoo. But a group of animal rights campaigners believe the 53-year old Asian elephant is not happy.

Happy has lived alone since 2006, in what reports call a "cramped and lonely enclosure". The Nonhuman Rights ProjectAn animal rights organisation that aims to have at least some nonhuman animals declared persons. The nonprofit organisation has also filed habeas corpus petitions on behalf of chimpanzees, but they were rejected.  (NhRP) compares this to solitary confinementThe UN considers solitary confinement of over 15 days a form of torture..

A petition calling for Happy's freedom has 1,412,725 signatures. Happy is the first elephant to be the subject of a court case, where the NhRP will argue that she deserves to legally be a personTo possess personhood is to hold certain rights and legal protections against cruel and unfair treatment..

Happy would not be the first nonhuman to gain rights. The Balearic Islands passed the first law granting great apes personhood. The Indian Supreme Court ruled that animals have the right to "live in a healthy and clean atmosphere". The UK government introduced legislation to recognise animals as sentientAble to perceive or feel things. beings. Ecuador ruled in favour of a chorongo monkeyAlso known as the common woolly monkey, they live in packs of up to 70 individuals.'s rights.

This represents a seismic shiftA very sudden or dramatic change.. The way we treat animals would be criminal if done to humans. We keep animals in captivity, often for our own entertainment. We breed cows to kill them. Our cruelty has been justified by the idea that animals do not think or feel as we do.

Many have observed human-like behaviour in animals. Darwin described an orangutan named Jenny as "precisely like a naughty child".

The more scientists discover about animals, the more like us they seem. Happy has recognised herself in a mirror. Pigs can play computer games. Octopuses can use tools. Hippos can identify voices. Monkeys can trade. Crows can solve puzzles. And one border collie has been taught to recognise the names of 1,022 toys.

The most intelligent animals have complex societies, methods of communication and emotions. As leading primatologistA scientist who specialises in the study of primates. Jane Goodall says: "You cannot share your life with a dog or a cat, and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings."

To be a person means to take responsibility. There is still scant evidence that animals can do this. If we want animals to have better lives, many argue, we should simply treat them better.

Yes: Humanity has brought enormous distress to animals, sometimes for no better reason than our own entertainment. Granting animals human rights is the fastest way to atone for our history of cruelty.

No: Animals might be more emotional and intelligent than we once thought. But they still fall far short of human capabilities. To simply make them equal is to paper over a world of differences.

Or... Rights, sentience, personhood: these are all terms created by humans, for humans. Instead of copying and pasting them onto animals, we should create new concepts more relevant to animal life.