#NoElephantAlone

Pole Pole – London Zoo

Regent’s Park, London, United Kingdom

Pole Pole (“slowly, slowly” in Swahili) was an African elephant who lived at London Zoo.

She was just two when taken from her wild family by the Kenyan Government, as a gift to London Zoo. In 1982, Born Free’s co-founders Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna went to see Pole Pole in London Zoo, where she paced her barren, concrete enclosure and swayed to and fro. Lonely, confused and unpredictable, Pole Pole was prematurely aged by captivity.

Virginia and Bill campaigned to give her a better life. In 1983, London Zoo agreed to send her to Whipsnade to be among other elephants. However, after being kept in her travelling crate for many hours, she collapsed and was sadly euthanised at the age of 17 years.

Her untimely death led to the founding of the Born Free Foundation.

Find out more about Pole Polehere.

Bunka – Yerevan Zoo

Yerevan, Armenia

Bunka is a male Asian elephant who is kept alone at Yerevan Zoo in Armenia. He was born in 2007 at Tbilisi Zoo in Georgia before being transferred to Yerevan in 2014.

MATRA – Robert Gärtner Circus Trainer

Austria

Matra (also known as Mangula) is a female Asian elephant born in 1972 who is kept alone by circus trainer Robert Gärtner, who uses her in touring circus shows.

Susie – Durov Animal Theatre

Moscow, Russia

Susie is a female Asian elephant, born in 1974, who is kept alone by Durov Animal Theatre in Moscow. After many years being used by the circus industry, she is recognised as one of the ‘longest-serving animal performers in Russia’.

Bully – Barcelona Zoo

Barcelona, Spain

Bully is a female African elephant kept alone at Barcelona Zoo in Spain. She was born in the wild in 1982 and has a history of use by the circus industry. She arrived at Barcelona zoo in 2012, where she lived with elephants Yoyo and Susi. Yoyo died in 2024 and Bully has been alone since the death of Susi in January 2026.

Gabi (Boon-Chooi) – Gaziantep Metropolitan Zoo

Gaziantep, Turkey

Gabi (also known as Boon-Chooi) is a male Asian elephant kept alone at Gaziantep Metropolitan Zoo. He was born in 2005 at Jerusalem Biblical Zoo in Israel, and is famous for being the world’s first elephant to be conceived through in-vitro fertilization (IVF). He has been alone since 2023, following the death of his companion 16-year-old Pili, a male Asian elephant.

Aung Naing – Kharkiv Zoo

Kharkiv, Ukraine

Aung Naing is a male Asian elephant kept alone at Kharkiv Zoo. He was born at Emmen Zoo in The Netherlands in 1997 and transferred to Kharkiv Zoo in 2002. He has been alone since the death of female Asian elephant companion Tendi in 2021.

Vendi (Wendy) – Odessa Zoo

Odessa, Ukraine

Vendi is a female Asian elephant kept alone at Odessa Zoo. She was born in the wild in 1978, then sent to Usti nad Labem Zoo in Czechia at the age of two, transferred to Drur Kralove Zoo in Czechia in 1980, then onto Odessa Zoo in 1982. She has been alone since 2008, following the death of her companion, a male elephant named Tarun.

Horas – Kiev Zoo

Kyiv, Ukraine

Horas is a male Asian elephant kept alone at Kiev Zoo. He was born at Berlin Tierpark in Germany in 2005, moved to Rostov Zoo in Russia in 2009, then onto Kiev in 2012, where has has been kept alone ever since.

Anne – Longleat Safari Park

Warminster, United Kingdom

Anne is a female Asian elephant kept alone at Longleat Safari Park. She was born in the wild in 1954 and was captured brought to the UK for use in the circus industry. She was owned by Bobby Roberts Circus from 1980, where she used to have the company of other circus elephants. She was relocated to Longleat in 2011 as an emergency response following the exposé of her abuse at her circus winter quarters.

Dascha – Yekaterinburgskiy Zoopark

Yekaterinburg, Russia

Dascha is a female Asian elephant who is kept alone at Yekaterinburgskiy Zoopark. She was born in Laos in 1980 and was presented as a diplomatic gift. She has a history of use by the circus industry and moved to the zoo in 2007.

Ganga – Ljubljana Zoo

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Ganga is a female Asian elephant kept alone at Ljubljana Zoo in Slovenia.

Exported from India in 1977 as a two-year-old infant, a scared and distressed Ganga struggled to accept the introduction of other elephant companions. An Asian elephant named Inda was brought in, but Ganga pushed her into a ‘ditch’ and injured her. Inda was relocated to a different facility. An African elephant named Temba was also brought in, but again the pairing did not work out. Temba later died, leaving Ganga alone.

The exact date of Temba’s passing is unknown, but it is believed to be in the early 1980s.

Case Study: Find out more about Ganga

Magda – Taigan Belogorsk Lion Safari Park

Bilohirsk Raion, Crimea

Magda is a female Asian elephant, born in 1972, who is kept alone at Taigan Belogorsk Lion Safari Park. She has a history of use by the circus industry.

Ekol – Bolshoi Moscow State Circus

Moscow, Russia

Ekol is a female Asian elephant, born in 2017, who is kept alone by Bolshoi Moscow State Circus.

Chani (Tschani) – Gelendzhik Safari Park

Gelendzhik, Russia

Chani (also known as Tschani) is a female Asian elephant born in 1970, who is kept alone at the Gelendzhik Safari Park in Russia.

Dora – Parc Animalier de la Barben

La Barben, France

Dora is a visually impaired female Asian elephant who is kept alone at Parc Animalier de la Barben in France. She was an infant when captured in the wild in 1975, destined for the European zoo industry.

Daela – Skopje Zoo

Skopje, North Macedonia

Daela is a female African elephant kept alone at Skopje Zoo. She has been alone since her Asian elephant companion Dunja died in 2024.

Shoba (Shova Rani) – Pafos Zoo

Pafos, Cyprus

Shoba (also known as Shova Rani) is a female Asian elephant kept alone at Pafos Zoo in Cyprus.

At the age of four, Shoba and five-year-old companion Bono Rani were transferred to Cyprus by the government of Bangladesh in 2015. She has been alone since the tragic death of Bono Rani in May 2016. Shoba is has been trained to stand on a ‘podium’ and perform circus-style tricks such as raising her legs and trunk on command, while visitors pay to feed her or have their photos taken with her.

Case Study: Find out more about Shoba

Lanka – Brijuni National Park

Veliki Brijun, Croatia

Lanka is a female Asian elephant kept alone at the small zoo on the island of Veliki Brijun, part of the Brijuni National Park in Croatia.

Lanka has been alone since Sony, her companion of 36 years, died in 2010.  Offers made to the Croatian authorities to fund and assist in the potential rehoming of Lanka to a specialist elephant sanctuary have, so far, been rejected.

Case Study: Find out more about Lanka

Rani – Maik Gärtner Circus Trainer

Croatia

Rani is a female Asian elephant born in 1971 who is kept alone by circus trainer Maik Gärtner in Croatia, who uses her in touring circus shows in Europe.

Kariba – Pakawi Park

Olmen, Belgium

Kariba is a female African elephant at Pakawi Park in Belgium.

Kariba was taken from the wild in Zimbabwe in the mid-1980s and sent to a zoo in Germany as an orphaned baby. She has spent over 40 years at zoos in Europe, in the company of other elephants until 2022. In 2012, she was moved to a Olmense Zoo (now called Pakawi Park) in Belgium, to join another elephant named Jenny. After 10 years together, Jenny died in 2022 leaving Kariba alone. But recognising her complex needs and loneliness, Pakawi Park began searching for a new home for her. Plans are currently underway to move Kariba to Pangea, Europe’s first large-scale elephant sanctuary in Portugal.

Find out more about Kariba: www.pangeatrust.org/kariba/

Julie – Pangea Elephant Sanctuary

Alentejo region, Portugal

Julie is a female African elephant who lives at Pangea Elephant Sanctuary in Portugal.

As a calf, Julie was taken from the wild and came to Portugal in the early 1980s, where she joined Victor Hugo Cardinali’s circus in 1988. Over the years, she used to live with several other elephants, but her last companion, Samba, died in 2024.

Julie was the last elephant to be held in any circus in Portugal. A law banning wild animals in circuses came into force in 2025, and most had already been moved to sanctuaries before then, but Julie needed to find a new home. Following discussions between Pangea and Mr Cardinali, who did not want to send her to zoo or another circus, Julie arrived at Pangea, Europe’s first large-scale elephant sanctuary in Portugal, in June 2026.

Find out more about Julie: www.pangeatrust.org/julie/

GANDHI, DELHI & VICKY – Elephant Haven European Elephant Sanctuary

Limousin, France

Gandhi, Delhi, and Vicky are female Asian elephants, previously kept alone in zoos, who now live at the Elephant Haven Sanctuary in France.

Gandhi was believed to have been born in the wild in 1969. At just a few years old, she was captured and sent to Givskud Zoo, Denmark, along with three other young, wild elephants, where she stayed until being moved to Pont-Scorff Zoo, France in 1998, age 29.  After the last of her elephant companions died in September 2021, Gandhi was alone. In October 2021, Gandhi was rehomed to the Elephant Haven Sanctuary, as their first resident.

Delhi was born in the wild in 1986 and was sent to Usti nad Labem Zoo in Czechia, where she lived for the next 35 years. She lived with another elephant named Kala, until she died in 2018, leaving Delhi alone. In 2022, Delhi was rehomed to the Elephant Haven Sanctuary.

Vicky was born in the wild in 1964 and was sent to Europe where she spent 40 years being used in the circus industry. In 2006, she was rehomed to Gdansk Zoo in Poland were she lived with an African elephant companion named Katka. Vicky was left alone for four months at the zoo, following Katka’s death in June 2026. In November 2026, Vicky was rehomed to the Elephant Haven Sanctuary.

Find out more about Gandhi, Delhi & Vicky: www.elephanthaven.com/en/elephant-haven

Daisy – Mallorca Safari Zoo

Mallorca, Spain

Daisy is a female Asian elephant kept alone at Mallorca Safari Zoo in Spain. She was born in India, in the wild, in 1973. She has a history of use by the circus industry and after being moved onto two other zoos, she arrived in Mallorca in 2014. She has been alone since her companion, a female elephant named Dina, died in 2019.