When it comes to rewilding giants: captive elephants rehomed in europe’s first sanctuary, europe's first large-scale elephant sanctuary is preparing to welcome its first residents in Portugal, offering an alternative for some of the 600 elephants held across the continent. Julie, Portugal's last circus elephant, will move next month to Pangea's multimillion pound refuge in the Alentejo, near Spain's border.
Understanding Rewilding Giants: Captive Elephants Rehomed In Europe’s First Sanctuary
The sanctuary, 200km (124 miles) east of Lisbon, has taken 10 years to develop on a former cattle ranch. Its first enclosures cover 28 hectares (70 acres); expanding across the entire 405 hectares will require further fundraising. It won't open to the public. Originally reported by The Guardian.
Julie will join Kariba, a female African elephant in her 40s being relocated from a Belgian zoo where she has lived alone. Both were caught in the wild and brought to Europe in the 1980s, part of a generation now nearing the end of life.
"Kariba and Julie will live in an expansive natural habitat where they can roam freely, bathe and socialise in compatible groups," said Kate Moore, the managing director of Pangea. She said autonomy would be combined with expert care for animals with complex needs.
Vítor Hugo Cardinali, director of the Cardinali circus, which acquired Julie from a German zoo in 1988, said the decision hadn't been easy but was right for her. The voluntary agreement with Pangea followed Portugal's circus ban on wild animals taking full effect in 2025; Julie is the last to be rehomed.
Circus bans expose a shortage of sanctuary spaces
Across Europe, 36 elephants live alone in zoos and about 40 still perform tricks in circuses. Most EU countries ban wild animals in circuses, but Germany has regional restrictions rather than a national ban. Without sanctuary spaces, circuses struggle to relinquish elephants, and governments can't confiscate animals with nowhere to send them.
Pangea prioritises elephants from circuses and those isolated in zoos, while offering to work with any owner moving away from keeping them. Kate Moore said changing laws, the death of companions and institutional decisions were driving demand. Owners' continued involvement matters because relocations are complex.
Britain's last circus elephant, Anne, moved to Longleat safari park in 2011. Now in her 70s, she lives alone. Paignton zoo decided in 2022 to stop keeping elephants because it couldn't meet their needs.
Captivity limits elephants to smaller-than-natural herds and sharply restricts movement: wild elephants walk tens of kilometres daily. Captive animals are also susceptible to disease and lameness. Those constraints underscore why retirement requires more than simply ending performances.
That makes the shortage of retirement space a practical barrier to reform, not just an animal welfare concern. A ban alone doesn't resolve where an elephant will spend its remaining years.
Restoring a cattle ranch with elephant residents
Research has linked captivity to shorter lives and higher infant mortality. One study found female African elephants lived an average of 17 years in zoos, compared with 56 in the wild when human-caused deaths were excluded.
Another study put first-year mortality among captive-born Asian elephants in North America and the EU at about 30%. For wild African elephants, the comparable rate is 10-15%. These findings add weight to concerns over the conditions in which elephants spend their lives.
At Europe's first large-scale elephant sanctuary, welfare and habitat recovery will develop together. Pangea has applied basic rewilding principles to help the degraded ranch recover, aiming to provide a varied environment rather than simply a larger enclosure.
The connection reaches into prehistory. Straight-tusked elephants roamed the Iberian peninsula 40,000 years ago. Kate Moore said elephants could strengthen ecosystems if stocking density was right, giving the sanctuary an opportunity to observe how the animals respond to the land and how the land responds to them.
But the project isn't a return to the wild. Its residents will receive expert care, with freedom to choose how they use their surroundings and opportunities for companionship based on whether they get along.
If fundraising allows the full 405 hectares to open, the sanctuary could accommodate 20 to 30 elephants, roaming, grazing and wallowing in lakes. Julie and Kariba's arrival will begin the work of turning a decade-long project into a home, while testing how elephant care and nature restoration can coexist.
Originally reported by The Guardian. View original.