Buba
is a 45-year-old African elephant who has been traveling for almost three decades with the Dutch circus Freiwald, owned by a German family of the same name.
It is the last captive pachyderm used to entertain the public in the Netherlands, which banned such wild animal shows in 2015, and Congress has decided to keep it with its “human family”.
The other option was to send her to a refuge in France, but there she would be alone, and the elephants need a herd, or at least a known group for their vital balance.
Considering the opinion of the Chamber, the Minister of Agriculture and the Environment, Carola Schouten, ordered this Tuesday to keep
Buba
in the circus, where he no longer performs.
However, as it is still a publicity claim, and the Freiwald are having difficulties feeding it due to the stoppage of the pandemic, the Animal Rights organization is considering going to court to avoid that the interests of the mammal "are sacrificed for a little courageous policy."
In 2015, an exception was made in the Netherlands with
Buba
in the absence of a center for her, and a search period was opened that expired on June 30.
Prolonged until January 1, Erwin Vermeulen, spokesman for Animal Rights, considers the ministerial decision “a political act that we will review, since the law is clear: you cannot have wild animals in circuses or travel with them ”.
In his opinion, unless the minister has prolonged Buba's stay in the circus for another season, "the rule should be changed, because such a resolution is not enough."
The animalist group recalls that the circus estimates the cost of Buba's maintenance at 70,000 euros per year, and prefers the French asylum.
Called Elephant Haven (shelter) it has been funded by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, the famous French actress defender of animals.
Measuring 28 hectares and located in the Limousin region, in the south-central part of the country, she has a problem: Buba would be alone.
“But surely other elephants will arrive, and there I would have space, food and veterinary care.
The Freiwald circus now remains stranded by the covid-19 restrictions, and she is in no condition, ”adds Vermeulen.
The ban on the use of wild animals in traveling circus shows has been signed to date by 33 European countries and another 17 in the rest of the world, according to data from the organization of the branch Four Paws International (Four Paws).
In Spain, nine autonomous communities and almost 200 municipalities have declared themselves free of circus animals, according to the InfoCircos platform.
The Freiwald circus has not responded to calls from this newspaper, but its spokesmen have assured the Dutch media that they are happy, "because the elephant is part of our family."
For Robert Kruijff, owner of Landgoed Hoenderdaell, the largest European refuge for lions and tigers, opened in the Netherlands, there are mixed emotions in this debate, “and most of the elephants used in circuses in Europe end up in a zoo, hence that when we thought of preparing a center, towards 2017, we saw that there were no specimens to form a group ”.
Animal Rights adds that Buba was taken to the Belgian Pairi Daiza Zoo, but there she did not react well to the methods used to subdue her and ended up repelled her keepers.
Reportedly dominant and aggressive, she returned to the circus.
In the Dutch Congress, Buba's fate has stimulated the imagination of the deputies of the Christian Democratic party, who presented a motion in favor of his permanence with the Freiwald.
In addition to comparing the difficulty of the case with the image of a “huge elephant sitting in the Hemicycle”, they recall “the excellent memory” of these animals, and the fact that Buba “would never forgive our political decisions”, for something that was fingertips.
The Party for Freedom, led by the far-right leader, Geert Wilders, who proposed looking for an appropriate enclosure for the animal, described as "the best news of the day", the result of a case that may not yet be closed.