Sona, considered Portugal’s last circus tiger, has arrived at a specialist big cat sanctuary in Alicante, in southern Spain, after 16 years in captivity, awaiting the end of quarantine so he can walk on solid ground for the first time.
According to the AAP Foundation (Animal Advocacy and Protection), which runs the sanctuary in Villena, Alicante, the three-metre-long white tiger has been exploited since he was three months old.
He was used in magic tricks and exhibited as a circus attraction. He was kept in a lorry trailer with a small outdoor cage.
His arrival at AAP’s facilities in Spain was made possible through a collaboration with the Pangea Trust, which had been aware of Sona’s situation since 2018, when Portugal did not have a law prohibiting the use of wild animals in circus shows.
The law was eventually passed in February 2019 but provided for a six-year transition period.
Once the six-year transition period for voluntarily handing over the animals expired, the owners contacted Pangea (a UK-registered, non-profit organisation and charity dedicated to creating Europe’s first large-scale elephant sanctuary in the Alentejo region of Portugal) at the end of 2025 to coordinate the tiger’s handover.
The AAP Foundation and the Pangea Trust carried out the rescue two weeks ago, and Sona was taken to the AAP centre in Alicante, “Primadomus”.
For now, he is being kept in isolation until the end of quarantine, after which he will be able to walk on solid ground for the first time – as throughout his life he has only moved between the trailer and the circus ring.
This story is being widely shared today, but there is some joy in one of the comments on social media from someone who professes to have come into contact with Sona at some point: “I was with this animal for some time, and I spoke with his owner. The animal was not exploited. He was well looked after and his owner adored him. He said in tears that he did not want to think of the day that he had to hand him over…”
Thus, Sona with luck is just moving on from one phase in his life, to another, which will be even better.
Source material: LUSA/ Facebook
