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.

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.

The group argued that elephants at Colorado Zoo showed signs of brain damage as the place was essentially a "prison" for such intelligent creatures.

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.”

The court ruled Tuesday that the elephants couldn't be released because animals don't have the same rights as humans. The group that filed the suit said that the animals were experiencing stress, physical issues,

The Colorado Supreme Court has rejected the idea that an animal rights organization could petition for the release of five captive elephants at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.