In battle for Boulie, the "circus" hippopotamus

We
can’t deny that: William Kerwich, director of the Royal Kerwich
circus, the general delegate of the Circus Collective, has understood
how much our fight has been for the liberation of Jumbo, held by the
Muller circus. More over for circuses in general to be without
animals. So, he deploys “communication” as a smoke-screen around
“his” hippo Boulie…

“What happiness!”

The
images posted on his circus Facebook page should not be misleading:
Boulie is shown there in a temperary pool and also in a muddy water
hole at the edge of the field which must be her winter quarters. In
fact, many Internet users congratulate the circus on the good care
given to animals, one even going so far as to conclude: “Adorable!
Animals love to play and show off! Reality! What happiness. Objective
achieved, finally with those who believe in it, and who want to
believe in it at all costs.

Because
the place of a hippopotamus will and must never be in the cages of an
itinerant circus or under the crushing sun of the Côte d’Azur and
where none of them should exist. Even when out of water and if
watered from time to time, this fundamentally gregarious animal is
found here, in the presence that is Boulie, the only representative
of its species. Alone and kept captive in an environment that has
nothing to do with her essential needs: swimming freely, which
relieves her joints, free fodder, the calm of the nights in the
thickets bordering the river, and a permanent communication, in and
out of the water, with its congeners…

Abusive messages

So
do not confuse good “communication” with reality, because
between the two the gap is large. Boulie is thus present on certain
recent posters of a circus with a totally misleading dialogue. One of
them entitled: “Closer to the animals”, and even boasts an
intuitive educational and cultural show: “with animals from a
breeding and preservation program for species monitored by state
veterinarians”, a program we would love to know all about!
It
sounds like social work, a humanitarian action, when it comes to a
wild species which is over exhibited and lugged around from pillar to
post. A true work of wildlife conservation, without a doubt! It goes
without saying that the circus obviously does not have a permit to be
a zoological park, any more than for it to be a “day care centre“. Furthermore, the newly opened winter quarters which are
open to the public do not comply with the regulations of a zoological
park.

In an article about this “really” Royal circus, we see a photo
showing a trainer feeding Boulie and which is captioned: “Rodolphe
Kerwich (eighth generation artist) and Boulie. They are both 21 years
old and grew up together.” One would almost cry in front of so much
love, but the first character here, the trainer, is free and the
second, the hippo, is held and exhibited to the public, before and
during a show, without any particular artistic interest what so ever
(to climb upon a platform, oh such a beautiful affair!). The impact
of such shows is totally counterproductive in terms of teaching,
especially for children who should never be led to believe that an
animal, wild by nature, can ever be happy in a circus.

A prisoner, that’s all she is, strolling along the roads then to be thrown into a pasture full of noisy and hilarious audiences, over and over again.

Boulie, Jumbo: the same fight

The
fight for Jumbo will soon arrive on the judicial front: indeed, the
trial for ill-treatment will finally take place. We are not fooled by
the reality which is that of Boulie and we file a complaint for
ill-treatment, ill-treatment committed by a professional. Placement
or maintenance of a captive wild animal in a habitat, environment or
installation that may be the cause of suffering and exploitation.
Improper holding of non-domestic animals, violation of the
conservation of non-domestic animal species … We hope that the
judges will hear the argument that the life offered to such an
animal, protected, can only be suffering , even in disguise … and
of which we cannot laugh either, when Boulie escaped the circus in
2018 to go for a walk in the vegetable patch of a local person living
near the marquees as in our video of this summer 2019. An unusual
variety of facts revealing in fine detail all the lack of seriousness
with which one considers the life of a living being and the way in
which in reality only shows suffering and loneliness of this hippo.

Support
the fight for Boulie by sending a message to the Prefect of Var:

• via
  Twitter @ Prefet83

• via
  the contact form on the Prefecture website

• via
  postal mail, taking inspiration for example from the letter download it here, at: Préfecture du Var boulevard du 112ème Régiment
  d´Infanterie, 83070 Toulon, France

Please continue to sign and share our petition for #CirquesSansAnimaux.