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A lion cub exploited in a video clip: appeal hearing on 17 February in Paris

A lion cub exploited in a video clip: appeal hearing on 17 February in Paris

A lion cub exploited in a video clip: appeal hearing on 17 February in Paris
16.02.2026
France
A lion cub exploited in a video clip: appeal hearing on 17 February in Paris
Exploitation for shows

In 2017, this very young lion was taken from his mother, who was being held captive in a circus, to be sold and exploited in a video clip. Reported to the authorities by a whistleblower, he was found to be very weak and showing signs of beatings. On 17 February at 9am, the Court of Appeal in Paris will examine this case which was tried in the first instance in 2022. One Voice will be present in court to defend this little feline, denounce trafficking linked to circuses, and remind everyone that these illegal practices continue to break individuals, far from the public eye.

Crédit photo : © Pompiers de Paris.

The events date back to 2017. Thanks to images posted on social media, the authorities discovered that a young feline was being held in an apartment in Seine-Saint-Denis. Presented as a ‘little tiger’, it was in fact a lion cub. Purchased for a video clip from circus performers based in Normandy, then transported by car to Seine-Saint-Denis, it found itself locked up in an apartment in Noisy-le-Sec.

A stolen childhood

At this age, a lion cub should be suckling its mother and beginning to learn about life. But, confined to the back of a circus trailer, separated from his family too soon, the cub was immediately subjected to greed and exploitation. When police officers found him in Noisy-le-Sec, he was suffering from multiple conditions – dehydration, parasites, nutritional deficiencies – and had a broken tooth and wounds on his nose and skull. Seized in extremis, he was taken into care at a shelter.

The man being prosecuted admitted to having looked for a lion cub for the filming of a video clip. He admitted to having brought him from a circus and keeping him in an apartment, then, on the day of his arrest, claimed that he no longer had him in his possession. How can such acts be justified and how can one claim to be caring for an animal that was purchased illegally and then transported from one flat to another in order to hide it from the authorities? His lies did not last long: the young animal was found the same day, weak, injured and traumatised in the flat.

Circus performers willing to do anything

This case is not an isolated one. The networks involving circuses feed other markets, particularly those of taxidermists, where animals, whether alive or dead, are nothing more than commodities.

In 2018, the young lioness Cersei was seized by customs after passing through the same networks. These cases are part of the activities that we have been denouncing for years, particularly trafficking and mistreatment.

On 17 February at 9am, the Court of Appeal in Paris will once again examine this case. We will be present in court to defend this lion cub and to remind everyone that animals are individuals in their own right. Take action with us, sign and share our petition so that circus animals finally have a voice.

Update 17.02.2026

The verdict will be handed down on 24 March.

A lion cub exploited in a music video: appeal hearing on 17 February in Paris

Sold by a circus, mistreated and locked up in an apartment, a lion cub will be at the centre of an appeal hearing on 17 February.

Cantal: a wolf shot dead, the State falling short. We demand justice!

Cantal: a wolf shot dead, the State falling short. We demand justice!

Cantal: a wolf shot dead, the State falling short. We demand justice!
13.02.2026
cantal
Cantal: a wolf shot dead, the State falling short. We demand justice!
Wildlife

On 4 February, a wolf was illegally shot dead in Cantal. The shooter claims there was ‘confusion’ with a fox. And already in the press, it is announced that the case could end with a simple reminder of the law. We refuse to accept this trivialisation. We are lodging a request so that the death of this wolf does not go unnoticed and so that the law ceases to be an empty promise.

The fable of a ‘mistake’

According to statements reported by the newspaper La Montagne, the hunter believed he was targeting a fox before discovering that it was a wolf. This justification raises serious concerns. The difference in size, morphology and appearance is obvious…
Certain identification is a basic and non-negotiable principle of hunting. Shooting without certainty is, at the very least, gross negligence… and a very worrying fact for the safety of humans as well.
Claiming ‘mistake’ is not enough to erase the facts. A protected animal was killed. Its death is very real. Behind the word ‘confusion’ lies an irreversible shooting and a sentient being who, once again, pays the price for laxity.

A protected species… really?

Unlike foxes, wolves are protected under French and European law because they were eradicated in the past. Killing them is prohibited in principle, except in regulated cases. On paper, the legal framework is clear.
However, today we are talking about a simple reminder of the law for an act that amounts to poaching. This perspective sends a disastrous signal. Can we seriously claim that a species is protected if the illegal killing of an individual results in such a lenient measure?
Every wolf counts. To trivialise the death of this wolf is to foster a sense of impunity and to undermine the credibility of the rule of law in environmental matters.
Faced with this situation, we refuse to remain silent and are lodging a request. The law must be enforced seriously, especially when it comes to protecting living beings. We demand that the circumstances surrounding this shooting be fully investigated and that appropriate legal action be taken.
The credibility of nature conservation policies is at stake. So is the respect due to a species that has simply reclaimed part of its natural territory.
Join us in demanding an end to these massacres by signing our petition.
Stop the persecution of wolves!

Cantal: a wolf shot dead, the State falling short. We demand justice!

A wolf killed ‘by mistake’ in Cantal: One Voice lodges a request and demands justice.

Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups !

Primatology Centre in Rousset: Europe questions France on primates bred for its laboratories

Primatology Centre in Rousset: Europe questions France on primates bred for its laboratories

Primatology Centre in Rousset: Europe questions France on primates bred for its laboratories
12.02.2026
Rousset, Bouches-du-Rhône Agrandissement de Rousset : le doute gagne les scientifiques !
Animal testing

Long kept under wraps, the project to expand the primatology centre in Rousset has now been revealed. At a time when technological advances, particularly thanks to AI, are leaping forward, the use of our closest cousins in laboratories is giving rise to growing controversy, even beyond our borders. And faced with this outdated French stance, the campaign is changing scale. A group of MEPs is challenging the French authorities and sharing its concerns about this project.

Dated 20 January, the letter from a group of MEPs addressed to the Minister of Higher Education and the CNRS’ Ethics Committee states unequivocally:

An initiative that is clearly out of step with scientific progress, the current and future priorities of European research, and the expectations clearly expressed by civil society

(excerpt from the letter dated 20 January 2026)

Between opposition and ‘deep concern,’ the elected officials clearly question the CNRS’ desire to expand the primatology centre in Rousset in the Bouches-du-Rhône region. This project, which we have been denouncing since the summer of 2024, was developed in complete secrecy. It plans to exploit up to 1,800 primates – compared to 600 at present – and to supply 40% of European research.

Through investigations, petitions and demonstrations, our campaign has broken the silence, and now the voices of these caged primates are being heard within European institutions. Europe refuses to condone the exploitation of macaques, baboons and marmosets, social, empathetic and intelligent beings condemned to years of isolation, torture, hardship and manipulation.

A fight for transparency

Beyond the fate that awaits these animals, the MEPs also denounce the laboratories’ serious lack of transparency. This is a culture of silence that we have been fighting for a long time. In November 2025, faced with the repeated refusal of the CNRS and the University of Aix-Marseille to provide us with public documents detailing their experiments since 2023, we won our case in the Administrative Court of Marseille. This failure was also highlighted by the guarantor of the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP) in their assessment of the consultation process.

Citizens are also saying no outside France

This public consultation delivered a clear verdict: 93% of the opinions submitted were against the project. Better still, the contributions overwhelmingly raised ethical issues related to animal rights. Opposition to primate experiments is also affecting Germany. A petition launched by one of our partners, Doctors Against Animal Experiments, has already gathered more than 40,000 signatures, paving the way for a public hearing. Here too, society is refusing to look the other way.

The future of primates in laboratories: a political choice

The Rousset case is revealing. It forces decision-makers to face up to their responsibilities given that the expansion of the site is not a scientific necessity, it is a political choice that places France at odds with forward-looking research. If the project is faltering today, it is thanks to our constant mobilisation. The debate is now public. The CNRS must respond to the report of the consultation guarantor by 16 February.

Primates are neither tools nor commodities. Join us in demanding a halt to the expansion of the Rousset facility by signing our petition. The fight continues.

Primatology Centre in Rousset: Europe questions France on primates bred for its laboratories

Following our campaign, the desire to expand this breeding facility which supplies laboratories has caused outrage even among members of the European Parliament.

 

Baby has died: chronicle of an abject abandonment

Baby has died: chronicle of an abject abandonment

Baby has died: chronicle of an abject abandonment
30.01.2026
Tunisie
Baby has died: chronicle of an abject abandonment
Exploitation for shows

Baby, an African elephant captured in the wild as a calf, for whom One Voice has fought for two decades, died yesterday at the Belvédère Zoo in Tunis. After more than thirty years of abuse and political failings, her death is no accident: it is the result of a system that sacrifices wild animals amid a general indifference.

A stolen life of boundless cruelty

Baby was only two years old in 1985 when she was torn from her family on the African savannah. Like so many other baby elephants, she was captured to feed the entertainment industry. From then on, her life was no longer her own.
Baby was trained, violently, by Gilbert Yeuk Bauer, to endure all forms of humiliation: degrading circus acts, film shoots, television shows, commercials, commercial events and private events. Rented out like an object, presented everywhere as a veritable
freak show, for anything and everything, Baby never knew any respect, let alone freedom. When she was not being exhibited, she was locked up in the darkness of a circus truck. She was spared nothing. Alerts ignored, responsibilities evaded
Since 2005, One Voice has been following Baby’s ordeal. Investigations, reports, legal action, offers to take her into a sanctuary: everything has been tried. Convictions were obtained against her trainer. However, Baby was never taken away
from him. The authorities let it happen.
In 2023, her operator got rid of her by sending her to a Tunisian zoo, without any
intervention from the French Ministry of Ecological Transition. This transfer felt like an
additional sentence, far from prying eyes and from responsibilities.

The Belvédère Zoo: the final prison

In the summer of 2023, One Voice visited the Belvédère Zoo in Tunisia. This place is known for its serious shortcomings: in 2017, for example, a crocodile was killed by stones thrown by visitors.
Baby was surviving there alone, even though elephants are deeply social animals. She was suffering from serious leg problems and was not receiving appropriate care. Permanently exposed to the public, she was subjected to intrusions, littering, and
inappropriate food given to her by visitors who crossed the barriers.

Baby’s death is the result of political choices, administrative failings and a system that continues to tolerate the exploitation of wild animals by circus trainers. Her death forces us to face up to what the entertainment and captivity industry does to animals.
We refuse to allow others to suffer the same fate, like the hippopotamus Jumbo who is soon to be the next victim.

Baby is dead: chronicle of an abject abandonment

Baby, an elephant exploited throughout her life, has died in Tunis. A symbol of a
complicit system, the French authorities abandoned her.

Thanks to our action, the Prefect withdraws orders allowing hunters to slaughter wild boar in Seine-Maritime

Thanks to our action, the Prefect withdraws orders allowing hunters to slaughter wild boar in Seine-Maritime

Thanks to our action, the Prefect withdraws orders allowing hunters to slaughter wild boar in Seine-Maritime
29.01.2026
Seine Maritime
Thanks to our action, the Prefect withdraws orders allowing hunters to slaughter wild boar in Seine-Maritime
Wildlife

Since 1 January, and while the hunting season is still open, all huntmasters in Seine-Maritime could take out their weapons to shoot wild boar without any restrictions throughout the year. Too numerous, too much damage… the arguments are always the same. How many of these animals will have been sacrificed for the leisure activities of a few? One Voice has taken the matter to court in order to obtain an emergency suspension of the cull. Even before the hearing (scheduled for 3 February), the Prefect withdrew all his orders, proving
that this umpteenth gift to hunters was illegal.

When 2026 rhymed with wild boar massacres

Hunted in winter during the hunting season and classified as a species likely to cause damage (ESOD), wild boar have long been the preferred target of hunters. After the unlimited night-time shooting in Moselle, the Prefect of Seine-Maritime authorised huntmasters throughout the region to kill wild boar without limit, day or night, from 1 January to 31 December 2026. This amounted to a permanent authorisation to slaughter them indiscriminately.
These animals, which are emblematic of our forests, are persecuted everywhere and by all means. In addition to being valuable in and of themselves, they are also useful within ecosystems – a fact too often forgotten. Their presence helps to aerate the soil by turning it over: without them, microbial activity would be endangered which would lead to the loss of the phenomenon known as ‘bioturbation’.
Hunting: a completely outdated pastime for which wild boar pay a heavy price Prefects are constantly brandishing the same scare tactics (damage, overpopulation, etc.) to conceal the responsibility of hunting in the current situation. It should not be forgotten that these animals adapt and increase their birth rate as soon as one of their own loses its life. Added to this is feeding, which artificially nourishes them. Is it any wonder then that populations are increasing? Worse still, some wild boar are bred and slaughtered in enclosures. Under these conditions, how can we believe the rhetoric of ‘regulation’? It is high time to implement alternatives to these mass culls. In response to these orders, we took the matter to the administrative court to obtain an emergency suspension. Even before the hearing was held, the Prefect withdrew them, thus sparing the wild boar.
This withdrawal does not however in any way reflect a change of heart in favour of wild boar. It is solely due to a legal point that was overlooked by the Prefecture. We therefore remain fully vigilant: if the Prefect were to issue new orders, we would
challenge them again without hesitation.

To speak up for wild boar against those who want to eradicate them, sign our
petitions for a radical reform of hunting!

Thanks to our action, the Prefect withdraws orders allowing hunters to
slaughter wild boar in Seine-Maritime

Another victory for wolves in the Alpes-Maritimes!

Another victory for wolves in the Alpes-Maritimes!

Another victory for wolves in the Alpes-Maritimes!
29.01.2026
Alpes Maritimes
Another victory for wolves in the Alpes-Maritimes!
Wildlife

The Administrative Court in Nice has just overturned — in whole or in part — seven orders signed by the Prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes in January 2025 authorising the shooting of wolves.

In its decision, the court found that these shootings had been authorised in violation of the legal requirements: no proven attacks, no prior measures, authorisations extended to municipalities where there was no justification for them. In other words, on the basis of these authorisations, wolves could be shot illegally.

The Prefecture repeats its illegal actions

This legal victory does not erase the underlying scandal: regulations that allow the killing of members of a protected species, and a Prefecture that persists in issuing illegal authorisations until the courts stop it. This is not the first time that the Prefecture of Alpes-Maritimes has been called to order by the courts as a result of our actions: in February 2025, the Administrative Court in Nice had already suspended, at our request, six orders authorising the killing of wolves in this region. On 17 October of last year, we had thirteen others orders of the same type permanently cancelled. On 7 January 2026, another one was also cancelled.
It is scandalous enough that the regulations authorise the killing of wolves; it is even more serious that the State does not respect the rules in force. We will continue to fight to ensure that wolves cease to be the silent victims of political decisions.
To enable wolves to finally live in peace, sign our petition!
Stop the persecution of wolves!

Another victory for wolves in the Alpes-Maritimes!

Stay informed and share the latest news!

Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups !

Ten tigers rescued from a lorry: the Court of Appeal in Amiens upholds landmark conviction

Ten tigers rescued from a lorry: the Court of Appeal in Amiens upholds landmark conviction

Ten tigers rescued from a lorry: the Court of Appeal in Amiens upholds landmark conviction
28.01.2026
France
Ten tigers rescued from a lorry: the Court of Appeal in Amiens upholds landmark conviction
Exploitation for shows

In October 2025, the trainer of ten tigers rescued from a lorry following a high- risk investigation by One Voice was back in court after appealing his first- instance conviction. On Wednesday 28 January 2026, the Court of Appeal in Amiens upheld Mario Masson’s conviction, in particular for mistreatment of animals by a professional (a criminal offence), handing down a new landmark ruling with exemplary penalties.

Ten tigers rescued from a life of suffering

In 2019, we discovered ten tigers in the courtyard of an abandoned building, crammed into a lorry from which they were only taken out for a few rare appearances in shows. To rescue them from this hell, we had to prove that they were permanently locked up in the lorry, so we investigated relentlessly for over a year, uncovering serious and repeated offences.
In December 2020, after reviewing our footage, the authorities ordered the largest seizure of tigers in Europe. We were on site to free the ten captives and transfer them to our partner sanctuary, Tonga Terre d’Accueil, where they could finally receive the proper care and discover the pleasure of walking and feeling the grass under their paws. Two years later, their trainer Mario Masson was heavily sentenced in the first instance. For the mistreatment of the big cats over many years, he was fined, had the animals confiscated and was banned from working with animals for two years. We immediately welcomed this necessary decision.

Mario Masson found guilty: a heavier sentence handed down by the Court of
Appeal

Despite overwhelming evidence, the notorious trafficker of baby felines and torturer of Rani, Tim, Leo, Tara, Yma, Oona, Dian, Ashley, Lily and Douglas appealed. On 6 October 2025, we were again face to face with him in the Court of Appeal in Amiens to once again speak out on behalf of his victims. On Wednesday 28 January, the judges ruled in our favour once again. The Court confirmed the permanent confiscation of the tigers and the conviction of the trainer who now, instead of a €5,000 fine, has been given a 12-month suspended prison sentence and a ban from working with animals for two years.

This decision sends a strong message: animals exploited by circuses are not mere puppets that circus performers can deprive of food or keep locked up in trailers day and night. Wherever trainers abuse animals, we will be there, ready to take action with the authorities.

We welcome the appeal conviction of Mario Masson on Wednesday 28 January. The tigers he tortured for years are finally out of danger. For all those who are waiting to be freed from their chains, we remain fully mobilised. Join us in calling for an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses, by signing our petition.
Ten tigers rescued from a lorry: the Court of Appeal in Amiens upholds a landmark conviction

Mario Masson, the trainer of the ten tigers rescued by One Voice in 2020.

Expansion of the animal experimentation facility in Rousset: 93% of opinions against

Expansion of the animal experimentation facility in Rousset: 93% of opinions against

Expansion of the animal experimentation facility in Rousset: 93% of opinions against
21.01.2026
Rousset, Bouches-du-Rhône Expansion of the animal experimentation facility in Rousset: 93% of opinions against
Expérimentation animale

Following One Voice’s campaign against the planned expansion of the primatology centre in Rousset, the CNRS finally launched a preliminary consultation… in which the vast majority of respondents rejected this project for the intensive breeding of primates for laboratories. This remarkable mobilisation was confirmed by the guarantor of the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP). One Voice once again denounces this cynical plan which belongs to another era, and calls for its outright abandonment.

An anachronistic project employing shameful methods

Stuck in the past, the CNRS has set itself the goal of tripling the number of monkeys held at the current Primatology Station in Rousset by 2029, thanks to no less than €30 million in public investment funding at launch, to become one of the main suppliers of primates destined for laboratories and for many years of suffering. This is in total contradiction with European commitments to reduce the number of animals used in experiments… and with public opinion, which is strongly opposed to these outdated practices. Not content with perpetuating them at the cost of the lives of thousands of primates each year, the CNRS, yielding to our mobilisation, launched a preliminary consultation that was neither ‘voluntary’ nor ‘transparent’, but rather a promotional brochure. It placed numerous obstacles in the way of a clear understanding of the project and its implications, going so far as to wait until an hour and a half before the last public meeting to publish the France 2023 public subsidy file and the report on the impact on fauna and flora, even though these had been requested from the very first day, on 16 October. The minutes of the various meetings and visits that took place after 25 October were not published at the end of the consultation period…

Animal advocates up in arms

These dirty tricks did not prevent the French people from rejecting this shameful project. Their eyes were opened to the unspeakable suffering of the animals involved, and they responded accordingly. In 2024, we called on the government to demand official documents, then, in April 2025, joined by 150 partner associations alongside the Collectif Vauclusien de Protection Animale, we mobilised in front of the town hall in Rousset. Finally, from 16 October to 16 November, we distributed more than 1,000 leaflets and organised more than a dozen grassroot events. Our efforts paid off, and more than 2,296 opinions were submitted on the platform.

A massive opposition to the breeding project… and to animal experimentation!

93% of the respondents to the consultation were opposed to this project for the intensive breeding of primates for laboratories. This is a real victory, and the guarantor was quick to highlight this impressive result, estimating that 81% of the opinions concerned issues of ethics and animal welfare. Better still, citizens were able to join us in expressing their astonishment at the lack of a national strategy to phase out animal experimentation, in contrast to a growing number of neighbouring countries that have virtually stopped  experimenting on monkeys. And indeed, how can we understand that a breeding facility that contravenes European Directive 2010/63/EU is approved… and financed with public money? The guarantor also noted that the opacity of decision-making and the lack of transparency of the protocols, which we have always denounced, were problematic for respondents. And that’s not all, as citizens went even further in also questioning animal experimentation. Our 2023 survey already showed this, with 74% of French people opposed to the very principle of these cruel experiments. At a time when the first alternatives based on artificial intelligence are officially validated abroad, it is time for the French State to take the full measure of this necessary desire forchange!

Important recommendations

At the end of the consultation, the guarantor recommends, among other things:
–  that the CNRS’s response and its justifications be presented at a public meeting attended by the guarantor;
–  the establishment of an ongoing consultation with the presence of a CNDP guarantor in order to provide the information that is still missing, particularly concerning the risks to biodiversity, nature and health, as well as answers to the many questions that were left unanswered during the preliminary consultation;
– a detailed justification of the ethical questions raised by citizens.

The full report and recommendations are available via this link.
The animal experimentation lobby is lying in wait

However, One Voice disagrees with the guarantor when he does not question the fact
that the president of Gircor, the animal experimentation lobby in France, was
presented solely as a promoter of the project during the preliminary meetings. It is
incomprehensible to claim that concealing such information ‘is not likely to distort
public perception or the transparency of the debates’. We were forced to tone down
this common-sense statement in our stakeholder report so that it could be published
on the consultation platform.

The results of the preliminary consultation on the proposed expansion of the primatology centre are clear. We expect the CNRS to respond within the mandatory two-month period, putting an end to this opaque and anachronistic plan as requested by the vast majority of French people who have expressed their views. The €30 million of taxpayers’ money must go towards the development of alternative methods. Whatever the response, we remain fully committed to ensuring that no additional monkeys are bred in Rousset, where many primates are already awaiting transfer to a nightmarish life as laboratory animals.

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Recurring acts of violence by a breeder against horses: One Voice files a complaint

Recurring acts of violence by a breeder against horses: One Voice files a complaint

Recurring acts of violence by a breeder against horses: One Voice files a complaint
19.01.2026
Savigné-l’Évêque, Sarthe
Recurring acts of violence by a breeder against horses: One Voice files a complaint
Animaux familiers

The images are shocking. In the Sarthe region, a breeder and trainer of Arabian thoroughbreds was filmed on numerous occasions beating panicked horses who were unable to escape as the blows rained down on them relentlessly. The man has already been convicted by the courts for domestic violence. At the end of December 2025, One Voice filed a complaint with the court in Le Mans on behalf of the horses. They must be brought to safety, and the link between violence against humans and against animals must finally be recognised.

In videos taken by whistleblowers, horses are being kicked in the stomach, punched and whipped while being held firmly by the reins… Completely terrified, they have no way of escaping the extreme brutality of their tormentor. Yet it is not for lack of trying to escape, always in vain, as in the case of the pony Happy, for whom we filed a complaint in 2023. One of them is limping, and we can only wonder what injuries the others have suffered in addition to the psychological trauma endured. According to witnesses, this abuse is not unusual. On the contrary, it is an integral part of the breeder’s “method”.

Both animal and human victims

The man was convicted in 2023 for domestic violence against his ex-partner. Why are we not surprised? Since 2007, we have been working tirelessly to raise awareness of the obvious link between interpersonal violence and violence towards animals, a link documented by numerous studies. We think of Léa, a little dog traumatised by the sexual abuse by a paedophile, but also of Django, a young mastiff crossbreed shot by an individual who had been threatening his family with racist and misogynistic insults, and Mirsou, a little cat brutally killed by the ex-partner of the woman with whom he lived. It is vital that acts of cruelty against animals are finally taken seriously and recognised as indicators of potential danger to humans as well. The FBI, for example, has been doing this for decades.

For the tortured horses, we have taken the case to the court in Le Mans. We hope for a sentence that reflects the intolerable acts they have suffered. Sign our petition to grant horses and ponies protected status as domestic animals.

Jumbo in great distress: a wildlife veterinarian sounds the alarm

Jumbo in great distress: a wildlife veterinarian sounds the alarm

Jumbo in great distress: a wildlife veterinarian sounds the alarm
15.01.2026
Tarn-et-Garonne
Jumbo in great distress: a wildlife veterinarian sounds the alarm
Exploitation for shows

On 27 and 28 December 2025, One Voice once again filmed the hippopotamus Jumbo while the Muller-Zavatta circus, where he has been held captive for nearly forty years, was setting up in Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne). The report by the veterinary expert who studied these images is unequivocal: Jumbo is suffering terribly. The association is once again filing a complaint against his torturers and calling on animal rights activists to write to the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

At forty years old, Jumbo is still being exploited by the trainers who have made him the star attraction of their business. When he is not locked in his metal trailer or left alone to pace around in a makeshift enclosure, he is laboriously dragged onto the circus ring, transformed against his will into a freak show animal delivered to the crowd of spectators. As an amphibious hippopotamus, he should be spending sixteen hours a day in the warm waters of the rivers from which he was torn as a youngster. The vet who has viewed our latest videos does not hide his concern. Jumbo is in bad shape. Suffering from a degenerative joint disease and severely overweight (one tonne too heavy), he struggles to walk, and the cold is likely to exacerbate his pain. Worse still, the wildlife specialist describes the hippopotamus as “one of the most serious cases of animal abuse in captivity [he has] ever seen”.

Despite his debilitating condition, the circus forces Jumbo to perform during opening hours and days, and it seems that he will have to continue doing so until the day he dies or until the day he can no longer move. Dr David Perpiñan Veterinarian with over twenty years’ experience working with wild animals

Ten years of relentless campaigning

Since 2016, we have been tracking Jumbo’s movements in the south of France, investigating tirelessly, timing the little time he spends outside the lorry where he is locked up, filming and photographing his conditions of detention in order to better denounce them… Every year, we have increased the number of demonstrations and appeals to the authorities, filing numerous complaints of mistreatment. In 2019, we finally managed to organise his rescue. Faced with the violence of the circus staff, the authorities decided to cancel the confiscation… Since then, we have not given up, continuing to gather evidence against those who exploit Jumbo.

The government has abandoned the animals

While we fight tirelessly for him, the state has continued to spit in the face of the animals it claimed to defend when it passed the law against animal abuse in November 2021. From the outset, the ambitions were weak: exclusion of domestic animals from the law, a ban on the keeping of wild animals only for travelling circuses and only from 2028 onwards… Since then, the government has done much worse. Dismissing our proposal to help circus performers retrain, it prefers to pay them to continue keeping animals, without offering them any alternative accommodation. The icing on the cake is that these jailers, handsomely paid with taxpayers’ money, will only have to settle down to continue their abuse… and even their shows!

We are filing a new complaint against the Muller-Zavatta circus for all the cruelty it inflicts on Jumbo. You too can call on the Ministry of Ecological Transition by writing to them*. And sign our petition to save Jumbo!

*A template letter is available at the following link. It can be sent by post to the address indicated, or directly online.

To have Jumbo placed in a sanctuary: sign the petition To have Jumbo placed in a sanctuary: sign the petition To have Jumbo placed in a sanctuary: sign the petition To have Jumbo placed in a sanctuary: sign the petition To have Jumbo placed in a sanctuary: sign the petition To have Jumbo placed in a sanctuary: sign the petition To have Jumbo placed in a sanctuary: sign the petition To have Jumbo placed in a sanctuary: sign the petition To have Jumbo placed in a sanctuary: sign the petition To have Jumbo placed in a sanctuary: sign the petition