The idea germinated in the heads of two former Flemish zoo keepers, Sofie Goetghebeur and Tony Verhulst, to respond to the ban - in place in some twenty European countries and in the process of adoption in France - to employ wild animals in circuses and shows.

To build their "sanctuary" Elephant Haven, Tony Verhulst, 49, including 15 who worked as an elephant healer at the Antwerp zoo and his companion Sofie, specializing in the care of great apes, settled in 2016 in an old farm with a slate roof, nestled in the middle of 29 ha of pastures in Bussière-Galant (Haute-Vienne), 1,300 inhabitants, in the heart of the Périgord-Limousin natural park.

Mayor Emmanuel Dexet, at first "a little surprised" but "happy" with the arrival of new buyers for old abandoned farmland, is seduced by the project.

For five years, the town and the couple - who ultimately intend to collect six or seven elephants - work with the authorities on procedures, in particular on safety in the event that the elephants escape into the vast forests of walnut trees and chestnut trees from the region.

"A retirement home for elephants, that does not really fit in the boxes of the administration," laughs the mayor today.

At the same time, the couple, occasionally supported by "more than a hundred volunteers", built an eight hectare course, fenced by thick crane cables fixed up to 2.50 m high on old EDF poles. in reinforced concrete.

Gandhi walks there for about twenty minutes this November morning to taste branches of chestnut trees and willows, salads, a few lemons - his favorite delicacy - regularly offered by the neighborhood.

If the venerable pachyderm lived in captivity half of her life in Denmark, then the other half in Brittany, the cool wind on these valleys at an altitude of 400 m convinced her to return to her brand new enclosure, constantly heated to 18 ° C by two heat pumps and a stove.

The careful Sofie Goetghebeurat takes care of Gandhi, the Asian elephant, in Bussière-Galant, Haute-Vienne, November 8, 2021 Philippe LOPEZ AFP

The improvements will have cost a total of one million euros, financed first by the couple's savings, then donations from individuals and animal protection NGOs - Brigitte Bardot Foundation, One Voice, World Animal Protection, Animal Trust-, says Sofie Goetghebeur.

Find other residents

Here, the enclosure has six boxes to accommodate a maximum of three females and "separate" them if necessary because, according to Verhulst, "in the zoo, old elephants fight when they run out of space".

It now remains to find other residents.

No small task ...

French itinerant circuses have "about fifteen elephants", according to William Kerwich, president of the union of the capacity of circus animals and shows.

But "we will not give them to them or to others," he warns.

For Cécile Erny, director of the French association of zoological parks (Afdpz), the opening of third-party refuges is "an always laudable intention" but the hundred or so French zoos, which are home to "22 African elephants and 13 Asians", "do not does not feel concerned ".

By virtue of their "conservation mission", zoos "provide support for animals until the end of their life with appropriate care and equipped enclosures," she says.

The trainer Tony Verhulst with the elephant Gandhi in his enclosure of Elephant Haven in Bussière-Galant, in Haute-Vienne, November 8, 2021 Philippe LOPEZ AFP

For Mr. Kerwich, whose family has worked with animals for 150 years, the two creators of Elephant Haven "are arguably passionate" but supported by "an ark of animal associations" better for "the call for cash" via donations only for animal care, he storms.

Suspicious, this circus artist cites the example of the former Pont-Scorff zoo (Morbihan) where Gandhi lived.

Bought by an NGO to prepare the return of animals to the wild, it was placed in liquidation a year later.

"Putting an elephant back in a group takes several years" and "locked up six months in the year" in the mountainous center of France, "it is a quick death assured", he fears.

According to Afpdz, an elephant can live up to 70 years in the wild, 60 years in captivity.

For Tony Verhulst, Gandhi "could live another 20 years" in his new home.

© 2021 AFP