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Lucy, an Asian elephant was captured as a baby in Sri Lanka in 1977, and brought straight to the Edmonton Valley zoo in Alberta. For 18 years she lived with Samantha, an African elephant, until the zoo sent Samantha to another zoo in North Carolina on a breeding loan in 2007. That year, animal rights activists started the push to move Lucy south to a place with other elephants. Celebrities joined the 'Free Lucy' cause, including William Shatner and Bob Barker.
In 2009, 31 Canadian authors called on Steven Mandel, the Mayor of Edmonton to move Lucy south. The zoo called in Dr. James Oosterhuis - the same veterinary consultant who recommended that Maggie stay in Alaska - to determine whether or not Lucy could be moved. He did not recommend her relocation, because of a blockage in her nasal passage that restricts her breathing.
There has been an ongoing legal battle over Lucy's living conditions. The case was between animal rights activists (including PETA and Zoocheck Canada) and the City of Edmonton . The Court of Queen's Bench Justice John Rooke ruled that the legal proceeding amounted to an abuse of process and that Zoocheck and PETA don't have the legal right to take the issue to court without going through Edmonton Humane Society investigators. The case was appealed. Three judges from the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled against the application from PETA and Zoocheck to sue the city of Edmonton over Lucy.
Finally, in the spring of 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada also rejected the application to hear the case between animal-rights activists, who want the elephant moved, and the City of Edmonton, which owns and operates the Edmonton Valley Zoo where Lucy continues to live.
