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An obese three-tonne circus hippopotamus could finally be freed after a long legal battle.
Jumbo, who has spent the last 30 years working as “Europe’s biggest hippopotamus” for a family circus, could now be released after being kept in a “dumpster full of water”.
France’s decisionthe highest administrative court of is expected in the coming weeks and is the culmination of a long legal battle between an animal rights group and the Muller family circus.
Animal rights group One Voice accused the circus of mistreating Jumbo, leaving the giant animal alone for hours in an enclosure, locked in a truck or trapped in a dumpster filled with water.
They asked that Jumbo, whom they describe as obese, be transferred to a sanctuary because “the physiological and biological needs of this animal are absolutely not respected”.
The animal rights group One Voice accused the circus of mistreating Jumbo, leaving him alone for hours in an enclosure, locked in a truck or trapped in a dumpster filled with water.
Campaigners want the hippo moved to a sanctuary, but the Muller family circus denies mistreating Jumbo and wants the retired performer to stay with them.
On their website, campaigners say the giant hippo is unable to wash itself and take the weight off its joints and is kept in a truck, traveling between shows.
On their website, activists say the giant hippo is unable to bathe and take the weight off its joints, and that this only contact with water occurs during its daily half-hour “walk.” .
They added: “He is then sprayed with a garden hose while onlookers look on curiously.”
But the family circus rejected the accusations and said the animal should stay with them.
The Muller family obtained an official permit issued by the southern region of Drôme in 2008 to show Jumbo to the public.
One Voice sued in 2017 to revoke the permit, but an administrative court refused to do so in 2019 and a regional appeals court upheld that decision in 2022.
Because Jumbo has retired, the performance permit challenged in 2008 no longer applies, the circus argued.
The case has now reached the Council of State, France’s highest administrative court, where Jumbo’s fate was discussed on Wednesday.
The circus says the hippo, now in his 30s, has retired but has not confirmed when he stopped performing.
Since Since the case began, the French government has introduced an animal rights law aimed at phasing out depictions of wild animals in traveling shows by the end of 2028.
A rapporteur at the Council of State advised the court to send the case back to the court of appeal, recommending that it re-examine it taking into account new developments.
One Voice’s lawyer, Thomas Lyon-Caen, said the recommendation seemed “perfectly justified.”
But Muller family lawyer Helene Farge argued Jumbo would be happier living out the rest of his days with the circus.
Won’t he be “better where he’s always lived rather than in a retirement home?” she says.
Hippos are native to sub-Saharan Africa, where they typically wallow in water all day before coming out on land at night to graze on grass.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies them as “vulnerable” because they are threatened by human activity and drought.
In 2007, a French court ordered the release of an 11-year-old hippo named Tonga from another circus. He was flown to a sanctuary in South Africa.