The Happy Pod: Portugal’s last circus elephant rehomed
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How was Julie the circus elephant moved to Pangea sanctuary in Portugal?
This is The Happy Pod from the BBC World Service.
I'm Chantal Hartle and in this edition, Portugal's last circus elephant reaches her forever home.
She's exploring the outside more and more each day. She's using the mud wallow. We couldn't be happier with the progress that she's making.
Scientists discover a new species of monkey hiding in the Congo rainforest. Having a new monkey species come to light after all these years of being in the landscape is just really extraordinary. A summer of sport that led to new and unlikely friendships around the world. It's really what the World Cup is about. People from other countries meeting each other and loving the time they spend together. And... I began planting mangroves in 2018. Since then, we've restored about 75% of the mangrove forest. Seeing it come back to life fills me with pride. The win in restoring Kenya's vital coastal ecosystems. We start with a sanctuary giving retired circus elephants the freedom to roam. The site in Portugal, run by the Pangea Trust, covers around 1,000 acres and aims to give elephants the closest possible alternative to their natural habitat.
It now has its first resident, Julie, a 40-year-old African elephant. She'd been with a circus in Portugal since 1988, almost her entire life, until the country banned the use of wild animals for entertainment two years ago. In a moment, we'll hear how Julie is settling in to her new surroundings. But first, the BBC was given a tour of the sanctuary last year as it was preparing to welcome its first elephants. We might be in the middle of Portugal, but the landscape is very reminiscent of Africa. It's just the flat-topped acacia trees have been replaced by cork oak trees. And it's not difficult to imagine elephants wallowing in this little waterhole. It's a really beautiful site actually. It used to be a cattle farm and a eucalyptus plantation and we've spent the last one to two years basically trying to restore the biodiversity on site to get ready for elephants.
It's going to be closed to visitors so we will have the odd open day for local communities but this is all about the welfare of the elephants. Gracia Fonseca is on Pangea's board. As a former Portuguese Minister of Culture, she's passionate about the project.
You know, one of the first visits I did here, and we were passing through a really small cafe, and the lady was like, ah, you are the person that's going to bring the elephants. And we were, yeah, yeah, we are bringing elephants. Yes, you know, I thought all my neighbors here, they wouldn't believe me, but now they believe me. You are bringing the elephants. You It's really interesting the way that the community are engaged with the project because it's about, really? Elephants here?
Well, they might just believe it now. Pangea's sanctuary manager, Ryan Hockley, told me how duly their first resident is getting on.
She's doing really well. We're really pleased with the progress that she's making. She seems to have settled in quickly. So she's very comfortable with the inside space and she's exploring the outside habitats more and more each day. She's using the mud wallow. which is vitally important for any elephant, captive or wild, for skin care. But she's behaving just like a wild elephant insofar as, you know, on the particularly hot days, she'll put a protective layer of mud on to obviously shield her from sun and also biting insects. We couldn't be happier with the progress that she's making. In modern terms, this was one of the last areas of elephant habitat. So it's just a lovely story. I think that Pangea chose this place to develop their sanctuary.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:53
2
How was Julie the circus elephant moved to Pangea sanctuary in Portugal?
0:53–10:46
3
What features of the Pangea Trust sanctuary recreate an elephant's natural habitat?
10:46–22:02
4
How is Julie adapting behaviorally and physically to sanctuary life?
22:02–30:15