Update: A judge in Seattle has declined to block the transfer of Woodland Park Zoo's two elephants, putting them closer to a new home at the Oklahoma City Zoo.
Animal welfare activists vowed to continue their fight to have the aging female elephants moved to a sanctuary.
King County Superior Court Judge Palmer Robinson said she didn't think activists could win a court case contending that the city of Seattle — and not the Woodland Park Zoo Society — owns the animals.
Alyne Fortgang of the Elephant Justice Project says another lawsuit is pending in federal court.
Woodland Park Zoo has agreed not to move the elephants to the Oklahoma City Zoo before April 8.
The legal action is part of the broader debate about whether housing elephants in zoos is humane, with activists arguing the large animals need more space to roam than zoos can provide.
Original story
Animal-rights activists who want two elephants at a Seattle zoo sent to a wildlife sanctuary are seeking to block the animals' transfer to another zoo in Oklahoma City.
The Elephant Justice Project is seeking a preliminary injunction at a Friday hearing to prevent the animals from being moved.
The legal action is part of the broader debate about whether housing elephants in zoos is humane, with activists arguing the large animals need more space to roam than zoos can provide.
In its lawsuit, the group alleges that Seattle didn't have the authority to give away the Woodland Park Zoo's endangered Asian elephants, Bamboo and Chai.
The zoo disputes that and says the transfer gives the pair more space and allows them to be part of a larger, multigenerational herd.
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