The Colorado high court ruled in favor of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo after an animal rights group alleged the park's elephants were 'unlawfully confined.'

Five elderly African elephants at a Colorado zoo will stay there, after the state's highest court said the animals have no legal right to demand their release because they are not human.

A Colorado court rejected efforts to free five elephants using a legal process for human detainees, writing that it “boils down to whether an elephant is a person.”

Five elephants at a Colorado zoo may be “majestic” but, since they’re not human, they do not have the legal right to pursue their release, Colorado’s highest court said Tuesday.

Outrage erupted among animal welfare activists after Colorado courts ruled that five captive elephants could not petition for release. An animal rights group presented the case in Colorado. Still, the state’s supreme court could not allow an elephant to file a habeas corpus claim because elephants are not considered human.

History will look upon this ruling as a grave injustice,” animal law professor and director of the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project Justin Marceau said.

The high court rejected arguments that elephants qualify as “persons” under state law and suggested animal advocates turn to the legislative branch to expand legal rights.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. ( KKTV /Gray News) - The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that elephants do not have the same rights as humans. The ruling comes after the Nonhuman Rights Project filed a lawsuit against the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo over the conditions the animals.

The court rejected the idea that an animal rights organization could petition for the release of five captive elephants in Colorado Springs.