Jumbo’s Distress: Press Release
On 29 May, when the Zavatta-Muller Circus was in Orthez (64), investigators from One Voice filmed the hippopotamus Jumbo frantically banging his head against the wall of his trailer. This repetitive behaviour is a sign of distress. Held captive for nearly forty years by the Muller family, Jumbo is now due to be in Serres-Castet (64) from 5 to 7 June. Despite the proven mistreatment he has suffered, and the breaches of the law relating to his appalling conditions of captivity, nothing has changed for him.
As a semi-aquatic and gregarious animal, Jumbo should be spending up to sixteen hours a day submerged in water and walking every night in search of food. For nearly forty years, he has been kept alone in a metal trailer, without access to a suitable pool. Severely overweight, he suffers from significant joint pain: wildlife vets have deemed his state of health to be extremely worrying. And yet, he continues to be moved from town to town and put on display to the public.
Convictions, and yet impunity
The Muller family has long been known to the authorities. In 2020, the Criminal Court of Valence convicted Alexandre and Edmond Muller of ‘unlawful operation of aFor years, One Voice has been monitoring Jumbo, a captive hippopotamus at the Zavatta-Muller Circus, and documenting his movements week after week. At every stage, the same damning reality emerges. Footage filmed in Orthez, prior to the circus’s arrival in Serres-Castet for performances from 5 to 7 June, provides further chilling evidence of this.
A gesture of distress that they are trying to silence
In the video, Jumbo, submerged in the skip that serves as his pool, bangs his head against the metal wall, over and over again. This type of repetitive behaviour is characteristic of profound distress in an animal deprived of everything it needs to live: space, plenty of water, other creatures of its own kind, and the freedom to move about.
In the background, the circus trainer can be heard clearly shouting at him: ‘Jumbo, Jumbo, stop.’ For One Voice, this command is telling. It does not express concern for the animal, but rather a desire to put a stop to behaviour that is disruptive, because it lays bare, without ambiguity, what circuses seek to conceal: the distress of an animal condemned to survive in appalling conditions.
Nearly forty years in a metal trailer
n establishment keeping non-domestic animals; placing or keeping an animal in an environment causing suffering; and using an unsuitable method of confinement likely to cause suffering or injury’. These charges directly concerned the living conditions imposed on Jumbo.
An order to seize the hippopotamus had even been issued before the hearing. It failed due to the violence opposed by the circus operators. And despite the conviction, Jumbo remained in their hands. Since then, reports and complaints have been pouring in, yet nothing has changed.
Get Jumbo out of there. Now.
No animal should spend its life in a trailer. No animal belongs in a circus. As the Zavatta-Muller Circus prepares to set up in Serres-Castet from 5 to 7 June, One Voice is calling on the authorities to commission an independent assessment and to finally take action on Jumbo’s behalf.
Jumbo is not an act. He is not an attraction. This elderly hippopotamus no longer belongs on the road, but in a sanctuary. There is still time to rescue him.
One Voice invites the general public to sign its petition: Let’s save Jumbo!.
Jumbo’s distress: Press release
The Muller Circus: a new video shows Jumbo banging his head in distress, just days before his arrival in Serres-Castet