Europe’s first working elephant sanctuary welcomes its first resident

Julie, Portugal’s last circus elephant, has retired after 40 years of performing. On June 30, the 40-year-old African elephant was moved from the circus to the Pangea Elephant Sanctuary in Alentejo — Portugal’s first sanctuary for working pachyderms and the first of its kind in Europe.

Captured in Africa in the late 1980s, Julie began performing in 1988. After Portugal banned wild animal acts in 2024, Pangea stepped in to give her a home. The 1,000-acre sanctuary plans to eventually house 20–35 elephants.

Julie settled in right away and will later be joined by Kariba, another female elephant in her 40s from a zoo in Belgium.“Our focus is now to give Julie the best possible quality of life,” said sanctuary director Kate Moore.