Happy the elephant will soon have her day in New York’s highest court.

The 51-year-old Asian elephant won’t attend–among other impediments, the 8,500-pound animal lives at the Bronx Zoo–but her lawyers have filed a writ of habeas corpus, arguing she is a legal person. If she had such status, her detention at the zoo would be unlawful and she could be sent to an elephant sanctuary, her lawyers argue.

“The elephant is being imprisoned against her will,” said lawyer Steven Wise, who represents Happy.  “For more than 40 years she has been kept as a prisoner.” 

Happy is in a small but growing company of animals and natural entities fighting for legal rights—with help from their self-appointed human lawyers–in U.S. courts. The lawsuits mark an effort by lawyers who argue that animals, nature and ecosystems deserve some of the same legal rights long held by people and corporations.