Portugal’s last circus elephant has left the big top behind.
Julie, who spent 40 years performing, arrived at the Pangea Elephant Sanctuary in Alentejo on June 30 after a three-hour truck ride from the Víctor Hugo Cardinali circus grounds.
She was captured as a calf in Africa in the late 1980s and brought to Portugal, where she began performing in circuses in 1988.
In 2018, the Portuguese government passed a law banning wild animal performances by 2024. Julie had nowhere to go until Pangea Elephant Sanctuary contacted her former owner.
The sanctuary said it is the first of its kind in Europe. While the site was still being built, staff began planning Julie’s move as the first elephant to be welcomed there.
After 18 months of planning, Julie settled in quickly.
“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.”
The sanctuary covers 1,000 acres, about 405 hectares, and hopes to eventually house 20 to 35 elephants. It has limited occupancy for now while more barns and fences are built.
Pangea is an independent charity registered in the UK and Portugal. The sanctuary said an English primary school sponsored Julie before her move with a 100-pound donation.
Julie is expected to be joined later this year by Kariba, another female African elephant. Kariba was also captured in the wild, is now in her 40s like Julie, and is living alone at a zoo in Belgium.
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