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Date Published: 15/04/2026

Portugal's last circus tiger finds sanctuary at a big cat rescue centre in Alicante

After a lifetime locked in a circus truck, 16-year-old Sona is now in the care of the AAP Primadomus Foundation in Villena

A 16-year-old tiger called Sona, believed to be the last wild animal still living in a Portuguese circus, has arrived at the AAP Primadomus Foundation in Villena, just outside Alicante, after years of campaigning by animal welfare organisations finally paid off.

Sona has been taken in by one of southern Europe's largest sanctuaries for big cats and primates, a facility in the Sierra de Salinas that currently cares for 94 animals rescued from entertainment, the illegal pet trade and wildlife trafficking.

He arrived thanks to the combined efforts of the AAP Foundation and the Pangea Trust, which had been monitoring his situation since 2018 but had to wait until Portugal's ban on wild animals in circuses came into force in July 2025 before his owners agreed to give him up.

Back in 2024, the same sanctuary rescued nine lion cubs, alongside two mothers and a third adult cat, that had been living in horrible conditions in a circus in France.

From the age of three months, Sona was used in magic shows and displayed as an attraction, spending most of his life confined to a truck trailer with a small external cage attached. The physical toll has been significant. Vets at the foundation have already noted that his front paws were declawed, a painful procedure used in circus animals to stop the nails regrowing, which permanently affects their movement and quality of life.

He also has severe cataracts, a missing canine tooth removed two years ago due to infection, weakened muscles in his hips and legs from a lifetime of limited movement, and sores on his paws from years of living on hard surfaces.

Sona will spend time in quarantine while the team carry out full veterinary and parasitological assessments before he's cleared to mix with other animals. Once he is, he'll do something he's never done in 16 years of life: walk on natural ground for the very first time.

Olga Martín, head of public policy at AAP in Spain, pointed out that although Spain banned the use of wild animals in circuses back in 2023, plenty of other European countries still permit tigers and lions in circus shows. The foundation is pushing for a ban across all 27 EU member states.

Image: AAP Primadomus Foundation

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