Top French court studies fate of 'Europe's largest' hippo Jumbo

France's top administrative court is to decide if a three-tonne hippopotamus called Jumbo should be freed after decades working as "the largest hippo in Europe" for a family circus.

The decision, which is expected in the coming weeks, is the culmination of a lengthy legal battle between an animal rights group and the Muller Circus.

The One Voice group has accused the circus of mistreating Jumbo, leaving the semi-aquatic mammal alone for hours on end in an enclosure, locked up in a lorry, or standing in a water-filled skip from which it cannot clamber out on its own.

They have requested that Jumbo, who they say is obese, be transferred to a sanctuary.

The circus has rejected the claims, and said the animal should stay with them.

The centre of the case is an official permit issued by the southern Drome region in 2008 giving the Muller family the right to show the animal 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.

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. They did not however say when.

France has also since the start of the case 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.

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

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.