Jumbo, a hippopotamus at the bottom of the abyss
He bears the name of an illustrious predecessor. What a bad omen. The famous pachyderm might have been a star, but his life at the circus was an ordeal. This contemporary hippopotamus’ is too. One Voice is fighting to save him.
He bears the name of an illustrious predecessor. What a bad omen. The famous pachyderm might have been a star, but his life at the circus was an ordeal. This contemporary hippopotamus’ is too. One Voice is fighting to save him.
Jumbo would only have wings at Walt Disney. In reality, captive animals experience suffering and despair, without any escape. Jumbo the hippopotamus is one of them. He has been languishing for years in the menagerie of a French circus.
Alerted about his deplorable living conditions, One Voice mandated an investigator and a veterinarian last March to witness the situation. Their conclusions are overwhelming. It appears that the physiological and biological needs of this animal are absolutely not respected.
Locked up 23:30 hours out of 24 in the trailer of a 15m long and 3m wide truck, Jumbo is sorely lacking space to move. In addition, he has no bathing opportunity. In the wild, as his species requires, this imposing male would spend most of his time weightless in a river or lake. Here, nothing helps him to support his body mass or relieve his limbs. His only contact with the water is during his half-hour daily “walk”. He is then sprinkled with a hose under the intriguing gaze from the onlookers. What a sad irony, that a forced shower is given to an amphibious animal! And that sudden movement and noise around him is so stressful after having spent a day completely cut off from the world. For food, the old hippo receives horses hay and pellets … What a ridiculous diet for an herbivore capable of grazing 68 kilos in 4-5 hours in the wild! Then, he is returned to his confinement devoid of any distraction. And to add to his mistreatment, he frequently endures transport in a trailer between the different performance sites.
Faced with such a total disregard for the fundamental rights of this animal person and the regulations in force (1), One Voice calls for the immediate release of Jumbo and his transfer to a sanctuary. Especially as the hippo is not participating in the show, his detention is completely illegal. At the same time, our association has initiated a procedure with the General Controller of places of deprivation of liberties so that she takes over the case. This approach usually kept to human prisoners, and also engaged for 5 female elephants, also finds its full meaning against the hell endured by Jumbo.
Beyond this case, One Voice goes further and continues its fight for the conclusive abolition of the exploitation of wild animals in circuses. None of them has its place there! To support our action, sign and share our petition!
(1) Order from the 18th March 2011 laying down the conditions for keeping and using live animals of non-domestic species in itinerant shows.