A lazy retirement was bestowed upon the last circus elephant in Portugal who just became a resident of the country’s first sanctuary dedicated to working pachyderms.
After 40 years of performing, Julie was transported on June 30 from her old circus home to the Pangea Elephant Sanctuary in Alentejo.
Julie was captured as a calf in Africa during the late-1980s, and brought to Portugal where she began performing in circuses in 1988.
In 2018, the Portuguese government passed a law to ban wild animal performances by 2024. Julie didn’t have anywhere to go, until Pangea Elephant Sanctuary reached out to her former owner.
The sanctuary is the first of its kind in Europe, and while it was still being built, they began planned Julie’s move as the first elephant to be welcomed on site.
18 months later, after a three hour truck ride from the Víctor Hugo Cardinali circus grounds, Julie made herself at home right away. (See the video at the bottom…)
“There couldn’t be a more fitting first resident than Portugal’s last circus elephant,” said the sanctuary’s managing director, Kate Moore.
“Our focus is now to give Julie the best possible quality of life in her time ahead.”
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The sanctuary spans 1,000 acres and hopes to eventually house 20–35 elephants, but has limited occupancy at this stage while they erect more barns and fences.
Pangea, an independent charity registered in the UK and Portugal, was even offered a sponsorship for Julie from an English primary school, which adopted the animal before her move by providing a £100 donation.
Julie is expected to be joined later this year by Kariba, another female African elephant that was also wild-caught—and is now in her 40s like Julie—and is currently living alone at a zoo in Belgium.
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WATCH a video from Julie’s journey…
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