Happy Friday in New York City, or, should I say, it’s a Friday for Happy.

Today, we honor the life of Happy, the beloved Asian elephant of the Bronx Zoo, who passed away at the age of 55 on Tuesday. Caretakers with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo came to the decision to euthanize Happy after a prolonged hospice period due to age-related illnesses. 

Happy was born in the early 1970s, most likely in Thailand, before coming to a Florida petting zoo in the United States. She was acquired by the Bronx Zoo in 1977.  

Happy has long been at the center of controversy. In 2022, an animal advocacy group called Nonhuman Rights Project sued for Happy’s release from captivity on the grounds that the legal principle of habeas corpus, the Constitutional right to bodily freedom, should apply to certain animals. Elephants such as Happy, the plaintiffs argued, exhibit sufficient intelligence and autonomy to earn many of the same inalienable rights usually reserved for humans. 

The case was the first of its kind to reach New York’s highest court. Though the push for Happy’s freedom was eventually struck down by the court in a 5–2 ruling, it marked a major milestone in the modern animal rights movement. In particular, Nonhuman Rights Project spokespeople told the New York Times that the court’s dissenting opinions offered “tremendous hope for a future where elephants no longer suffer as Happy has and where nonhuman rights are protected alongside human rights.”

Happy was also the engine behind a major discovery in animal cognition. In 2005, she proved her ability for self-recognition by touching an X marked on her head while looking in a mirror, becoming the first elephant to pass such a test and only the fourth species, after humans, apes and dolphins. 

Caretakers at the Bronx Zoo have long maintained that Happy was well cared for and happy in her captive home. She died “peacefully surrounded by the keepers, curators and veterinarians who have cared for her, some for more than 30 years,” said Craig Piper, the zoo’s interim director, in a statement. 

“Happy will always be remembered as the elephant who opened the courtroom doors for legal rights for animals,” said Christopher Berry, executive director of the Nonhuman Rights Project, in a statement.   

Someone may be filming you right now.

The person across from you at the coffee shop on Montague Street, the one in the tasteful frames who seems to be checking his email — he might be recording everything in his line of sight. The guy at the bar, nodding along to a playlist, could be livestreaming the room to Meta’s servers.

You can’t tell. That’s not a design flaw. It’s the design.

We are living through another erosion of privacy. It’s not sudden or dramatic, but it has been steady and largely uncontested. 

Learn more about the age of surveillance and what comes next.   

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