Battle to free Jumbo, Europe's 'largest hippo': Obese three-tonne circus animal 'kept in a water-filled skip' by its owners could finally be released after 30 years under French court ruling

An obese, three-tonne circus hippo could finally be set free after a lengthy court battle.

Jumbo, who has spent the last 30 years working as 'the largest hippo in Europe' for a family circus could now be released after being kept in a 'water filled skip'.

The decision from France's top administrative court is expected in the coming weeks, and is the culmination of a lengthy legal battle between an animal rights group and the family-run Muller Circus.

Animal activists The One Voice group has accused the circus of mistreating Jumbo, leaving the giant animal alone for hours on end in an enclosure, locked up in a lorry, or trapped in a water-filled skip.

They have requested that Jumbo, who they say is obese, be transferred to a sanctuary as the 'physiological and biological needs of this animal are absolutely not respected'. 

Animal activists The One Voice group has accused the circus of mistreating Jumbo, leaving him alone for hours in an enclosure, locked up in a lorry, or trapped in a water-filled skip

The campaigners want the hippo to be moved to a sanctuary but the family-run Muller circus deny they mistreat Jumbo and want the retired performer to stay with them 

On their website the activists say the giant hippo is unable to bathe and relieve the weight on his joints and is kept in a truck, travelling between shows

On their website the activists say the giant hippo is unable to bathe and relieve the weight on his joints, and this only contact with the water is during his half-hour daily 'walk'. 

They added: 'He is then sprinkled with a hose under the intriguing gaze from the onlookers.'

But the family-run circus has rejected these accusations and said the animal should stay with them.

The Muller family were granted an official permit issued by the southern Drome region in 2008 to show Jumbo to the public.

One Voice took legal action in 2017 to repeal the permit, but an administrative court in 2019 refused to do so, and a regional appeals court in 2022 upheld that decision.

As Jumbo has retired, the contended 2008 permit to perform no longer applies, the circus has argued. 

The case has now made its way to the State Council, France's highest administrative court, where the fate of Jumbo was discussed Wednesday.

The circus says the hippo, now in its late thirties, has retired but did not confirm when he stopped performing.

Since the start of the case, the French government has introduced an animal rights law to gradually phase out the performance of wild animals from travelling shows by late 2028.

A rapporteur at the State Council has advised the court to send the case back to the appeals court, recommending it re-examine it taking into account new developments.

One Voice's lawyer Thomas Lyon-Caen said that recommendation seemed 'perfectly justified'.

But the Muller family's lawyer, Helene Farge, argued Jumbo would be happier living out the rest of its days with the circus.

Won't it 'be better off where it has always lived instead of in a retirement home?' she said.

Hippopotamuses hail from sub-Saharan Africa, where they usually wallow in water all day before emerging onto land at night to graze on grass.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them as 'vulnerable', as they are threatened by human activity and drought.

In 2007, a French court ordered the release of an 11-year-old hippopotamus called Tonga from another circus. It was flown to a sanctuary in South Africa.